Who I Am
by TwinTrouble
Summary: Naruto has been keeping dangerous secrets for years. A long-forgotten dream that just won’t die, an ally he shouldn’t know and a friend no one thought he had are what keep him going. Graduating is the least of his problems…
1. Fail

Ok, before we get started, I want it to be noted that this IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE A SASUNARU. If you know me at all, you will realise that I don't like love, reading about it or actually writing it. Trust me, it ain't turning up here. They're just really close friends.

NOT a SasuNaru. Never will be, either. Read without fear.

No 'official' pairings will be included in this story, except for vague references to one-sided crushes. So if you're looking for romance, you'll wanna leave pretty sharpish.

Warnings: Violence, swearing (some censored, some I forgot to censor), some angst, mentions of torture but nothing excessively graphic in the far future, more violence, random pieces of Japanese (that will be translated at the bottom of each chapter), fangirls, messing with canon and staying true to canon as suits Fall's whim. Some important Japanese information may be explained at the end of chapters. If you want to know something in particular, ask.

Alternate Warnings: Kakashi bashers, Sasuke bashers and Sakura bashers will want to go elsewhere. Actually, any kind of bashers will want to go elsewhere.

EDIT: 29-4-10, approximately two in the morning. Have just discovered fanfiction dot net has yet again stuffed around with the formatting of the goddamn site and removed my goddamn page breaks. Please bear with me while I track down and brutally murder those responsible, and upload repaired chapters.

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**Who I Am**

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One: Fail

I couldn't help chuckling under my breath at Sasuke's predicament. I had heard the shrieking of his fangirls from outside the Academy, and the din was only worse on the inside of the classroom. As far as I could tell, his fangirls had been fighting over who got to sit next to him, and then the Uchiha heir, apparently too distracted to notice the shouting, made the mistake of walking in. Now he was being slowly suffocated from an acute lack of personal space, and I was sitting on my bench mentally laughing at him.

The noise level hadn't dropped in the slightest by the time someone slumped on the desk beside me and growled, "Dobe."

"Teme," I returned with a good-natured grin. "Escaped the rabid fangirls for another day, eh?"

Sasuke merely grunted in reply, resting his head on the desk. The fangirls were still bickering amongst themselves, yet to notice that their prize had escaped and was now sitting at the window seat with the dead last between him and his rabid fanclub.

Bastard, using me as a shield.

Fortunately, Iruka-sensei came in just then, and the fanclub was distracted from either a renewed attack on Sasuke or a new attempt on mauling me as he yelled at them to 'find seats already, dammit!'

Once the classroom was in relative order and I could feel the force of about two dozen death glares aimed at the back of my head (ah, so they'd finally noticed), Iruka-sensei told us the results of yesterday's written exam, and those who had failed trooped out miserably.

In a way I guess it's not fair to kick out the non-bookish ninja straight away, but when they don't have a clue what the five main ninja villages are or what a henge is, then it's probably a good idea to get rid of them before they get themselves killed. I know for a fact some of them were purposely failed because the teachers know they can't handle ninja life yet.

But anyway, I had somehow scraped a pass, although Kami knows how, and I was very pleased. The rest of the class – and probably a good portion of the rest of the building – was alerted to that fact as I jumped onto my desk and hollered, "HELL YEAH! Konoha's about to meet its number one ninja!"

I would have shouted more if not for Sasuke grabbing a fistful of my shirt and yanking me backwards off the desk, sending me toppling. If I hadn't been ready for it I would have hit my head on the stair above me and probably gotten knocked out. Instead I leaped straight to my feet and shouted, "What the hell was that for, teme?!"

"Hn. You're giving me a migraine, dobe."

"TEME! Don't call me that!" _If I'm dead last, then why am I still in the room while other people failed?_

I heard Iruka groan quietly as Sasuke and I argued, me at the top of my lungs and Sasuke with quieter retorts, but for me, despite my apparent annoyance, this was fun. Irritating Sasuke was a bit of a hobby. And for Sasuke, I was less of a migraine than his fangirls.

So we argued, getting progressively louder by the second, until Iruka yelled, "Knock it off, you two!!"

We stopped shouting at each other and instead turned our smouldering glares on him, both mentally insisting 'he started it!' Iruka was apparently unimpressed and ignored us as he repeated the explanation of the physical exams he'd given us yesterday, before he got called away.

"You will be called outside in pairs to demonstrate your projectile throwing and then your taijutsu in a short spar. After that you will return to the classroom, _quietly, _and wait; when your name is called you will go into that room there and demonstrate your ninjutsu ability. Normally this would happen the same day as your written exam, but due to _unusual circumstances _it was postponed."

I grinned. The '_unusual circumstances_' had been someone dousing the Hokage monument with a variety of paints, and then leading three-quarters of the village ninja on a wild goose chase all across Konoha and then some, before vanishing into thin air. They never caught the culprit (a sore spot of the seventeen ANBU who had been in pursuit), or even found out who did it, and the best part was that I was off the suspects list: I'd been in the classroom waiting for the exam to start the entire time. Perfect alibi that no fewer than forty five people could support. The chase had taken up the whole morning, and there hadn't been enough teachers left behind to supervise the exams. So, the written got pushed back to the afternoon, and without enough time for the phys tests, they got dragged back to today.

Ignoring the fidgeting of the kids around me, some frantically going over jutsu notes – _what's the point of that, the theory won't help you now_ – I spent the next half hour seeing how often I could poke Sasuke with my foot before he shot me a glare strong enough to wither plants and poked me back, hard. Not long, apparently.

"Stop fighting and get out here, you two!"

Oh good, that meant it was our turn. I bounced to my feet with a grin, while Sasuke stood up calmly and just walked down the stairs, me following him noisily and bouncing several feet in the air with every step. I probably would have tripped and fallen down the stairs at some point if not for Sasuke grabbing my jacket – again – and dragging me down. "Come _on, _dobe, I want to get this over with."

"Teme!" I screeched. "If you wanna pass you're gonna have to fight for it!"

Mizuki, who was the tester for the phys exams, sighed and dragged us apart before we could kill each other. "Wait for the spar," he informed us sharply. "Uchiha, you first, three kunai at that target, now."

Sasuke threw the kunai instantly, and I heard the short thunk as each one hit the target. "Nice. Three bullseyes," Mizuki commented. "You, same target, three kunai, go."

I breathed a faint sigh of relief and threw my weapons, hearing a clash as they hit Sasuke's, and frowned. That teme's kunai had better not have thrown my shots off…

But no, it seemed I was fine, Sasuke's voice faintly awed as he muttered, "Two dead centre and one damn close. Not bad for a dobe."

I shook my fist at him: a promise for the taijutsu fight.

Shuriken went almost exactly the same, and we both passed – it would be impossible _not _to, with our scores. Now, we faced off on the grassy field, Mizuki standing between us and getting ready to get the hell out of the way. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to relax. Freaking out or getting furious would not help me here. I needed to stay calm.

"Remember, taijutsu only, you two," he told us. "Sasuke, that means no Katon jutsu. And no explosive tags. No weapons for either of you. Ready? Begin!"

My eyes snapped open and I sprang sideways, Sasuke's first punch missing me, and there was a crunching of shredding grass as he twisted on one foot to snap the other out at me in a powerful kick that I swept aside with both arms, dodging a follow-up punch and throwing my elbow at Sasuke's chest.

It missed, of course.

I landed on my forearms and immediately went into a roll. Once my back was underneath me, I pushed off, clipping Sasuke's chin with my feet as I jumped back upright, but he wasn't dazed, easily jumping the foot-sweep I attempted as I spun around to face him.

I heard the rustle of cloth, the sound that meant he was throwing a punch, and ducked it quickly, whipping around again, mentally cursing (damn the little bastard, he is _fast!_) and springing away from the uppercut that grazed my cheek.

It was an instantaneous act-react-act-again fight, neither of us losing or gaining any ground as we exchanged blows that were either blocked or dodged, both unable to get in a solid hit as we ducked and weaved between each other's punches and kicks, moving as fast as we could.

Finally Sasuke surprised me with a kick disguised as a punch that I blocked and twisted my other arm, expecting to get a knee to the stomach, and instead felt the solid impact of his foot against my chest. It was a strong kick, too, all the force of his leg behind it, and I hit the ground with a heavy thud, slamming the back of my head against the dirt. For about half a second I stared blankly straight up at the sky as I tried to force air back into my aching lungs, before remembering I was in the middle of a spar, and immediately rolled over backwards.

I got halfway through my roll before Sasuke landed on my legs, obviously having been aiming for my stomach, and found himself being flipped with my momentum, and he was thrown off easily as I flipped myself back upright and spun to face him, where he'd hit the ground with a thump and rolled away to get his breath back.

We were both panting, breath rushing in and out of our lungs as we tried to get oxygen into our systems, having just been winded. Sasuke sounded worse than me, straining for air, but then again, I'd had a precious few extra seconds. We were both waiting for the other to make a next move, the next wave of attacks stalling, neither of us wanted to leap straight in again.

Then we both moved in the same instant, rushing back into the fight.

I was grinning fiercely as I spun on the ball of my foot to get around Sasuke, and even though I couldn't see his face as I leaned into his back and jerked his feet out from under him with my other leg, I know he was smiling too, in his own way, 'cos that's how me and Sasuke work.

I heard Sasuke's back hit the ground, already midway through a roll, and I spun again, blocking his next punch and striking out with my own, swiping at his legs once more and tilting my head to the side to avoid a high kick. We had gone back to the complex dance that made up our spars, barely grazing each other with our attacks and dodging everything with a finesse that made it seem even less like a fight.

I heard him draw his fist back through the rush of adrenaline, and mirrored the movement perfectly. Our fists slammed together, and instantly we leapt apart, panting heavily. Then I smiled, and we both bowed to each other, before turning to the astonished teacher.

"Uh…" Mizuki stammered. "You're supposed to keep going until someone loses…"

We both shook our heads. "If we fight longer, we'll start using ninjutsu," Sasuke said quietly, and I grinned brightly, putting my arms behind my head.

The teacher was startled by our apparent lack of will to kill each other, when we were usually at one another's throats, but he managed to say, "Okay then… you both pass the taijutsu section… head back inside and just wait…" He stumbled off, probably for a cup or two of sake (having been watching small children trying to beat each other up for the past two hours), and Sasuke and me both went back inside.

Back in our usual seats, we endured Sasuke's fanclub fawning over him and fighting with each other in the background. Sasuke, I suspect, was merely trying to hide under his desk and sneak away, but I was just ignoring them. They just weren't worth the effort, and I was too busy being worried about my ninjutsu.

See, I can't do a bunshin. I know _why, _but I can't fix it, or get around it, and I've been getting help, but it still doesn't work. I can do kawarimi, and even henge with ease (though it took a lot of practise and Sasuke laughing at me), but bunshin is simply beyond me. _It won't work._

"Uchiha Sasuke!" Iruka called, sticking his head out of the room. I blinked and looked up: me and Sasuke were the only ones left. Somehow his fanclub had all been through and I hadn't noticed them thinning out, although Sasuke had probably sighed with relief as every girl left.

It was a five-minute wait of pure torture. I was actually starting to shiver, my heart thundering in my chest and my breath coming in short pants. I was about twenty seconds from a full-blown panic attack when Iruka called my name.

I sprang to my feet instantly, feeling as if ants were crawling across my skin, and couldn't help brushing my arms violently as I bolted down the stairs, trying to get rid of the tickly feeling and slow my heart rate down at the same time before I opened the door.

I shut my eyes and took in a deep breath, hearing Iruka sigh faintly with relief 'last one' and the restless shifting of another teacher – Mizuki had probably come in after his sake. I took another breath before I opened my eyes, trying to calm down, and I heard Iruka say, "Okay then, could you please display a henge?"

I swallowed anxiously and managed to say without stammering or letting my voice crack in terror, "What of?"

"Just me will be fine."

I breathed in deeply and put my hands into the ram seal, focusing my chakra and pulling it around me, shaping it into the image I was supposed to, and held my breath even as I said cheerfully, "How's this?"

"Perfect," Iruka said happily, his pencil scribbling on paper, "now kawarimi."

I nodded and focused. This one was harder, but I knew exactly where he was standing, so if all went well, I could manage it. The handseals flew by on pure instinct.

I felt the chakra flush through my system, throwing up a burning tingle of feeling over me, then the sense of pressure and the sense of my heart skipping a beat as my body swapped positions.

I heard a yelp from Iruka, and leaned back in my newly gained chair, smirking. He cleared his throat, recovering from the shock of being used as a kawarimi target, and said, "Very good, Naruto. Just one more. Make three bunshin."

I swallowed shakily as I stood up. I could do this. I _had _to do this, no matter how much I sucked at bunshin. I _had _to pass.

Slowly, I brought my trembling hands together into the handseals, focusing the chakra through my fingertips carefully, focusing intently on the shapes, feeling the chakra flowing out of me and fighting to get it into the right position, trying as hard as I could to keep control.

I felt it flow and solidify, and I squeezed my eyes shut and dropped my hands slowly, not turning around to look, my heart pounding in terror as if it was trying to break out of my ribcage. _Please… please let it have worked this time… please let me pass…_

"Naruto…" I heard Iruka sigh, and my heart rate doubled – I hadn't thought it was possible. "You fail. I'm sorry."

I felt my heart stop and all the breath rushed out of my body. I'd failed. The jutsu hadn't worked.

"Come on, Iruka," Mizuki protested. "He at least made two bunshin this time."

I had? I didn't open my eyes, though, not bothering to try to see what horrible mistake I'd made this time.

"One looks dead, and the other looks like the Hokage monument did yesterday," Iruka said flatly, sounding disappointed. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but I can't pass you on that."

I slowly turned away, towards the second door of the room, where everyone else had already passed through, with their hitai-ates. They had passed, and I had failed. Again.

My footsteps were slow, my head turned to the ground as I walked slowly to my tree, the one with the swing hanging off it, listening to the other children babbling to their parents about their day and how they passed the exam and were genin now. I sank onto the swing, feeling weak and exhausted. I couldn't make a stupid bunshin, and I'd never pass the Academy exam. I could _never _be a ninja.

I heard sprinting footsteps and then Sasuke's voice calling, "Dobe, what are you doing over here – oh no." I heard the shock and sadness in his voice. "Oh, man, I'm sorry, I thought you'd –"

"Thought I'd finally managed to pass?" I interrupted dully, leaning against the rope of the swing. "Let's face it Sasuke, I'm never going to pass. I'll _never _be able to make a passable bunshin. I'll never be a ninja."

Sasuke was silent, obviously not knowing how to respond, before he sat down on the grass next to me, trying to offer comfort with his presence. Oddly, it helped, and I sighed faintly, turning my head to the sky, before asking quietly, "Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

My voice was wistful. "What does the sunset look like?"

He took a deep breath. "The sun's just barely touching the horizon now – we got out a little late. It looks a lot bigger than usual, as if it's absorbing all the daylight as it falls. It's a deep yellow, starting to fade into orange, and there are small wisps of cloud stained red and orange across it. The sky around it is orange that deepens to red as it hits the trees at the bottom, and as it rises up it fades into the blue of twilight as it starts to deepen into dusk. The sky on the other side is turning purple and dark blue, everything fading away into the darkness as it falls. There are some clouds pretty high up, grey and white, and with the sunlight behind them it looks as if they've been edged in gold. Clouds with golden linings, instead of silver.

"The sun's halfway gone now. The sky's deepening in colour, and the sun is a darker orange; it almost hurts to look at it because it's so bright. The clouds are beginning to fade into the shadows as the light vanishes, and the sky near the sun is starting to grow fainter, blending into the blues of the surrounding air.

"There's a flock of birds in the distance, outlined by the sunlight, looking for a roosting tree for the night. You can probably hear them calling better than I can; I barely hear anything from that far off."

He was right: I could faintly hear their screeches, even at the distance they were.

"The sun's just falling below the horizon now, and the light's all fading away, leaving behind the greys and blues of dusk and nightfall as purple and black overtake the sky. The first stars are just starting to appear, pinpricks of silver in a blanket that darkens as you watch. The last of the light is dying, leaving nothing behind but darkness."

There was a short pause, before I said quietly, "Thanks, Sasuke."

"No problem, Naruto."

He sensed that I wanted to be on my own for a while now, and stood up to leave. He didn't say anything more: there was nothing more to be said.

I sighed, and stared up at a sky I couldn't see, wishing that things could be different, and knowing they never would be.

I, Uzumaki Naruto, am completely blind.

And Sasuke, aside from me, is the only one who knows.

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Attention:

_ Hatake Kakashi_

_**Memo:**__ I would like to request that you consider taking on a genin team this year. We are slightly short on jounin following the Cloud Incident and the long-term infiltrations still in progress, and your experience is required._

_Signed,_

_Sandaime Hokage_

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_**Attention:**__ Sandaime Hokage_

_**Memo:**__ Not. A. Chance._

_Signed,_

_Hatake Kakashi_

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Japanese definitions, which I wish had been more common when I first entered this highly confusing fandom:

**Konoha**: If you don't know this one already… It's short for 'Konohagakure no Sato' which is literally 'Village Hidden in the Leaves'. The shorter versions, 'Konohagakure' and just 'Konoha' mean 'Hidden in the Leaves' and 'Leaf' respectively.

**Teme**: Is translated to 'bastard' or a similar rude name in the English version, but literally is a connotation of a noun referring to a hand-servant and is considered rude.

**Dobe**: Literally 'dead last', loosely translates to 'loser' in the English dubs.

**Taijutsu**: Hand to hand combat; basically means martial arts or similar.

**Ninjutsu**: This is the flash and bang stuff, usually referred to as 'jutsu'.

**Kami**: Literally, 'God'.

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Concepts:

**Order of Names:** Japanese people write their family names first, then their given names. I am holding true to this tradition, using 'Uchiha Sasuke' instead of the 'Sasuke Uchiha' some of you may be used to. This particular concept may help to explain 'clan pride', as writing the family name first subconsciously indicates that one's clan is more important than the individual. Calling people by their last names is more common in this culture, for the reason that their clan defines them more than their own given name.

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Techniques:

**Kawarimi (Substitution)**  
E-rank. Jutsu that allows the user to swap positions (or 'substitute') with another solid object that is roughly their size from somewhere else. The most common depicted is a section of log, but other material like rocks have been used and it is widely believed that you can swap positions with anything, as long as it is about the same size as the user. All ninja Academy level and up should know this one.

**Bunshin (Clone)**  
E-rank. A low level clone jutsu that creates illusionary copies of the user. The clones cannot interact with their environment, making them useless for practical work, and it makes them easy to pick out. All ninja Academy level and up should know this one, and all genin and up able to defend against it.

**Henge (Transformation)**  
E-rank. Illusionary jutsu that lets the user take on the appearance of another person or object. All ninja Academy level and up should know this one.

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A/N: I always thought it was a bit ridiculous how they only tested them on _one _of their three ninjutsu and nothing else. So this may be different to canon; I don't mind. Canon is a guideline which will be happily disposed of when I no longer need it.

I've seen a lot of 'Naruto has a disability' fics, y'know, blind, deaf, mute, but they always seem to… vanish. That or they're not realistic. Ever seen a first-person blind story where the character describes colour in all kinds of detail?

Yeah. I'm hoping to be a good deal more realistic than that.

And I swear if I get one review saying 'but Naruto's not blind', I will kill them. This is an AU for a REASON; if you can't deal with that, the back button's up there. If you are willing to accept the fact that Naruto IN THIS AU is blind, the review button is just there.

Twin1: Good sheep. Baaa.

Twin2: What the hell are you doing here? This is my story!

Twin1: I don't quite know. Review! Baa! Moo!


	2. Pass

Twin1: (is inspecting grammar) I'm telling you, it's fine.

Twin2: You can't even spell 'paid' right if you don't actually think about it! (is going over chapter with a fine-toothed comb) I think it's ok now… lemme check it one more time…

Twin1: Oh for crying out loud…

Chapter dedicated to starlightscribe for being the first reviewer for Who I Am.

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Two: Pass

I'm not sure how long I had been sitting there when I became aware of someone standing in the tree above me, their breathing and shifting of weight against the bark reaching my ears. Automatically I looked up at them, even though I couldn't see them, and Mizuki's voice said, "Hey, Naruto."

I blinked, then turned my gaze back to the ground. There was something off in his voice, but it was probably just my hearing being a little off because I had my teeth clenched. "'Lo."

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, and I didn't even bother to respond. I'd just had my one dream ripped out of my grasp; how did he _think _I felt? Apparently he realised that was a stupid question and kept going, "I know Iruka sounded like he was going a bit hard on you… See, Iruka sees a bit of himself in you… he was an orphan, too. He only wants to make sure you can handle it, be the best ninja you can be."

"But I really wanted to pass this time…" I whispered faintly. _Needed _to pass.

"I know, I know," he sighed, but there was definitely something wrong with his voice. "Hey, Naruto, what would you say if I told you about a secret way to pass?"

My head jerked up, looking at where his voice was coming from; this usually gave me the illusion of eye contact. "There's another way to pass? Really? I still… I still have a chance?"

I heard a flicker of hair and cloth: he must have nodded. "Yep! I'm not really supposed to tell you about it, but… you try so hard, you really deserve another chance."

Yep, something was definitely off here. I'd never heard of a secret way to pass, and I'd been through these damn exams twice already – not trying to pass the first two times, just seeing how I handled pressure, not too well, as it turned out – so something was wrong. But I shoved it away, focusing on the teacher Sasuke had told me had grey-silver hair. I was desperate to pass; if I passed this time there was a chance I'd actually be with a friend. And without Sasuke there, I knew I was pretty much doomed.

"What do I have to do?"

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I slipped along the wall of the Hokage Tower, easily avoiding the numerous traps that had been set. It was easy for me: I could hear the air shifting around the various tripwires over the corridors, and the breathing of the rare patrolling guards was almost deafening to my sharp hearing. As long as no one snuck up on me, I would be fine. Despite the fact I couldn't see what was going on, wearing what Sasuke had called a 'walking orange eyesore' had made me instinctively stealthy enough to hide from ANBU even in bright orange. Probably a good thing.

I heard the Hokage shuffling around in his office, probably doing paperwork, the poor bugger, and shifted up to stand beside the door, listening to his irritable mutters, and frowned, wondering how I was going to get past him. Obviously he was too tired to notice my chakra, so at the very least I was safe for a minute or two.

I frowned, thinking, before remembering I had been in that vault a couple of weeks ago – talking to the Sandaime while he was in there. I had been leaning on some massive scroll and had run my hands over it to check its size, out of curiosity, and it had stuck in my mind as a perfect picture. I wasn't sure exactly why he'd been in there, but I did remember exactly where in the room that big scroll had been, and that it was a little bigger than me.

Damn, was I glad I'd taken the time to learn that goddamn kawarimi.

I went through the handseals, careful with my focus, and felt the tingle and then the pressure of switching places with the scroll. I landed soundlessly in the vault, and was pleased to note that I'd been holding myself right for the scroll to fall quietly against a corner instead of clattering loudly to the floor.

Mizuki had told me exactly where the Forbidden Scroll was kept, and it wasn't hard to find its shelf. I brushed my fingers across the _crisp parchment skimmed dust hard wood seal raised grain kanji carved in the front,_ reading 'forbidden' in the deep engravings and nodding to myself. Yep, this was it.

I switched with the large scroll outside and found myself back in the corridor, and made a mental note to warn the old man about that particular security defect. It wouldn't be that hard to sneak in if you knew the basic layout of the scroll vault; hell, I'd managed it, and I was doing this without having ever seen the vault with my own eyes!

It took me a bare ten minutes to get out of the Tower, completely undetected, I might add, and into the forest to practise. I opened the scroll and brushed my fingers over the parchment, sensing where the ink was by faint traces that I was probably the only one who could detect. I almost groaned at the first jutsu: Kage Bunshin. The world hated me, I was sure.

But just in case, I 'read' the rest of it, skimming my fingers over the writing and mentally translating it into words as I went, and raised an eyebrow. This one… actually sounded like one I could do. Sure, it wouldn't be easy, and I'd probably need Sasuke to get it exactly right, but it sounded… it sounded like a version of bunshin that I might, just might actually be able to do!

I put my hands into the cross-seal that the scroll had in a sketch, and said, "Kage bunshin!"

I felt my chakra splitting, and felt the half that wasn't a part of me anymore beginning to swirl, me gently shaping it with only a nudge of my will here and there instead of the usual uphill fight it was. It was like the chakra actually _knew _what it was supposed to do.

There was a 'poof' as the clone solidified, and I held my breath, wondering if maybe, just this once, I had managed to do it right.

"Hey!" my voice exclaimed, "it worked!"

"Huh?" I said, confused. The scroll had said the clones would be solid, but it didn't mention talking.

"Awesome! This ability is gonna be really useful later on!" the clone said happily. "Better, you managed it first try! Wonder how many of these things you can make at once?"

I found myself responding to the clone's question with, "The scroll said however many my chakra can handle, so I guess… I'll just have to experiment. I don't really know how much chakra I have, aside from 'too damn much'." The scroll had also said that this jutsu was highly dangerous and shouldn't be attempted by anyone lower than jounin, though, so I was kinda sceptical on exactly how accurate it was.

The clone puffed out, and I cursed. Well, it hadn't lasted, but not bad for a first attempt. The clones were supposed to hang around until I dismissed them, though, so that'd have to be fixed. And I definitely wanted to be able to make more than one.

…Good grief. I'd been talking to myself.

I shook the thought off and brought my fingers back into the cross-seal, repeating, "Kage bunshin!"

This time there were three puffs as three different splits of chakra solidified, and I smiled. This was starting to work.

"Hey, getting better, boss," one of the clones remarked. "Three's good, three's very good."

"Hey, are you solid?" one of them asked another, and there was an 'ouch' as one of the clones was poked, followed by a 'poof' as it was dispelled. "Oops. Yes, until I poked you."

I half-grinned at the clones remaining, and asked, "Okay, so I can make three clones. Three clones who injure each other and get dispelled. What now?"

"Work on damage absorption," one of them offered, their voice coming from the left. "One poke isn't good; it's supposed to be a good deal higher than that. Something's not going right there. Oh, and I think you're replicating your hearing funny, I'm getting buzzy sounds and I can't really hear what's going on."

"Hm, that could be a problem," I muttered, but there was a sinking, twisting feeling in my chest. "I guess you guys can't see either, huh?"

There was a ruffling sound of clothes as both clones shook their heads. "We're supposed to be identical copies. No new abilities. We should be just as effective as you in battle, except we need the same other senses, and they're not working properly."

I sighed. "This'll need a bit of work. And the numbers thing, too; three won't be very useful in a fight."

"Better than none," the clone on the right pointed out.

Frowning as I thought, my fingers trailed over the scroll, automatically absorbing the information, before I brightened at the next jutsu: Tajuu Kage Bunshin.

I grinned. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Over an hour later, I was flat on my back, panting. My chakra had been busily separating itself as often as it could, and I was starting to wear myself out.

But, as far as I could tell, I had mastered this jutsu.

The clones were all perfect, exact copies of me, and they had stopped dispelling at a simple poke or shove, standing up to a couple of good kicks before poofing out. My chakra was returning quickly, the remains of the clones returning to me and adding to my supplies, so that I could sit up easily to grin to myself.

"Naruto!" Iruka's voice snapped. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Ah, good. Time to test the theory that had been nagging at the back of my mind for most of my practise hour. "Hey, Iruka!" I shouted in return, jumping to my feet and beaming. "Did you come to test me? I learned a jutsu, like Mizuki said!"

"Mizuki?" Iruka asked, and I knew that I'd been right. Something had been up, and I'd been dragged right into the middle of it.

"Yeah, Mizuki! He told me all about the secret way to pass, about how you have to borrow the Forbidden Scroll and learn a jutsu from it to pass! And I did it, Iruka! I learned one!"

"Mizuki told you that?" my sensei asked, obviously trying to wrap his mind around something.

Laughter cut off our conversation, and I narrowed sightless eyes at my other sensei – soon to be ex-sensei. He was above the ground, standing on a tree branch, I guessed, and he was laughing like the maniac he was. "Yes, me," he sneered, and even though I couldn't see him, I could easily imagine the sneering, disgusted expression on his face as he continued, "Naruto, you're so gullible, stealing the Forbidden Scroll like that for me. Honestly, and you want to be a shinobi!"

"You tricked him!" Iruka exclaimed, obviously furious. "Half the village is looking for an innocent child, because you thought it would be funny to get him in trouble?! How immature are you!?"

"It's not for fun, Iruka," Mizuki snarled, "it's for _power. _The power of the jutsu contained in that scroll! Hand it over, Naruto!"

"Naruto, don't give it to him!" Iruka barked instantly. I shifted the scroll so that it was sitting over my back – I had no intentions of handing it over, and I had a feeling I was going to need to make a run for it; carrying this bulky thing in my arms would only make it worse. It was hard enough to sprint through a forest by memory alone.

"Mizuki!" Iruka howled, apparently beyond furious, and I couldn't blame him. I knew he thought of Mizuki as a friend, and to have this betrayal…

"Naruto!" Mizuki shouted to me, ignoring Iruka. "Have you ever wondered why the village hates you so much?! Ever wondered what you could have done?! Why the whole village looks at you as if you're a monster!?"

"Mizuki, no!" Iruka shouted. "It's against the law!"

I tightened my grip on the scroll, taking a step back. This wasn't something I wanted to hear, but at the same time… _Every day of my life. Every single day, I wondered. _But I didn't want to hear it. Didn't want to know.

"When the nine-tailed fox demon Kyuubi attacked Konoha twelve years ago, it was sealed inside a baby! You! _You are the Kyuubi!_ Even your beloved Iruka-sensei hates your guts!"

The bottom of my stomach dropped out. The Nine-Tailed Fox.

Why everyone hated me, why I had to fight for every step I took, why my best friend had to pretend to hate me, _why, why, why…_

Why everyone called me a 'monster' or 'demon freak' whenever they thought I couldn't hear them.

I heard nothing from Iruka, just the bare gasp of air that he needed for survival, and felt my chest tighten. So I was a monster. I was just a dropout, a monster, a _failure._

A _freak._

I spun around and bolted into the trees. Sneering laughter echoed after me from the barren depths of my memories.

I ran as fast as I could, and that was very fast – I was almost as fast as Sasuke in a sprinting match, and if I really had a reason to be running, I was faster. I was probably lucky not to run into any trees, but my mental map and my memory was more than enough. It was easy for me to dart between the trees, ducking and leaping the lower branches. I didn't try to take to the trees: it had taken me three weeks and a sprained ankle to map them well enough for me not to be a health hazard, but I didn't want to risk it. The solid ground made for enough of a fast escape route from a world that hated me.

I sobbed in a breath, stumbling over a shoot that hadn't been in that mud patch last week – _stupid trees, always growing_ – and tumbled to the ground, landing with a heavy crash on the forest floor and rolling to cushion some of the unsteady impact. _Ow._

I really should have broken something, but somehow, all I felt was one massive bruise beginning to form over my abdomen. I tried to push myself back up, but an unfamiliar whistling sound made me whip my head around – like the sound of wind reflecting off a shuriken, but bigger, and the shape was different –

There was a tearing sound, and then the sound of squelching mud, but my sharp nose caught the smell of blood, and my eyes widened. Not mud – _flesh. _Someone had just been injured, and that someone was standing over me. I stared at the place I could hear the panting, and opened my mouth to say something, _anything, _when I heard Iruka say, "Run for it, Naruto! Don't let Mizuki get the scroll!"

I drew in a sharp breath, my mind clicking rapidly. Iruka had been hurt – Iruka had stopped the blade – Iruka was _hurt – _Iruka had protected me? What the crap? This made no sense!

So I did the only thing I could, and followed his orders. I ran, again.

I couldn't do anything right. I couldn't do a bunshin, I'd gotten Iruka hurt, and I couldn't even escape from _one – measly – CHUUNIN! _For Kami's sake, I could get away from ANBU!

"Naruto, quick, give me the scroll!" I heard Iruka shout from further off, and I turned my head towards it, quickly leaping that way. _What in the world…_

There was a thump, and a poof, plus the short burst of chakra that I knew meant a henge was being dropped. Mizuki's voice said, "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?"

I was confused. What was he on about? He couldn't see me – I was a tree or two away from him and whoever had attacked him, and it was a leafy one. I was hidden perfectly from view in the heavy undergrowth.

There was another poof, and another chakra flare, and then Iruka's voice said, heavy with pain, "Because _I'm _Iruka."

I guessed that Mizuki, in Iruka-henge, had been chasing Iruka, in Naruto-henge. And these people were teaching us? Sad.

"Why are you bothering to protect him?" Mizuki spat. "He's just a monster, a _demon._ He's not worth anything, he'll never be any more than a failure! The Kyuubi is nothing more than a monster, one who killed your parents!"

I swear my heart nearly stopped at that. So Iruka had even more right to hate me than anyone else? That was all I was, wasn't it? A monster, a _demon._

"You're right," Iruka said, panting, his voice thick with what I suspected was blood. I let my head droop. I was _nothing. _"The _Kyuubi _is a monster." I was worth nothing at all.

"But Naruto's not like that," Iruka continued. "He's not a monster. He's a klutz, and a bit of a clown, but when it really comes down to it, he's a bright, energetic kid. Uzumaki Naruto is not a monster, or a freak! He's a human being! He's hardworking and kind-hearted! He's not the Kyuubi, and he never will be! He's not the one who killed my parents! He's the number one loudmouth of Konoha, and more importantly, my student! And _that _is why I will protect him!"

I felt my heart lifting. _Iruka said… he said I'm not a monster. That I'm worth something. That I'm not nothing._

Mizuki snarled. "I was thinking of leaving you until later, but now I suppose I'll have to deal with you first!" There was a strange clicking noise that I assumed was him getting out one of those funny shuriken-like weapons I'd heard before, and with a burst of hot rage I bared my teeth. _Think again!_

I sprang out of my hiding place, just in time to deflect the weapon with a burst of chakra from one outstretched hand and halting in a defending position in front of Iruka, one of the few people on the planet who had ever defended me.

"If you_ touch_ my sensei…" I growled, the sound feral with hate, "_I'll kill you._"

Mizuki laughed. He _laughed, _ignoring the killer intent that had to be coming off me in waves. "You can't take me down," he sneered. "You're _nothing_."

I grinned, moving my hands into a seal that was fast becoming familiar. "TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN!" I roared at the top of my lungs, and I felt my chakra dividing itself as fast as it possibly could, the results exploding into existence all around us. I let my grin widen, baring my teeth.

That was definitely the best one so far.

Well over a thousand.

I inhaled deeply, and heard a thousand sets of lungs imitating me, as we all bellowed, "CHAAAAAARGE!"

With a thousand of me in action, it took a bare twenty seconds to pummel Mizuki into unconsciousness, the constant barrage of furious punches and kicks not being something any normal human could withstand for more than a few seconds. As I – the real me – kicked him into a tree, the thousand clones I'd managed to conjure up dispelled, one by one disappearing from existence. I smiled sheepishly at the spot I could hear Iruka's laboured breathing, saying, "I guess I overdid it a bit, huh?"

Iruka coughed. "Just a little, I think. Naruto, come here, and close your eyes."

I walked over to him slowly, wondering what he would think of me now. I'd just beaten the utter _crap _out of Mizuki, who had attempted to betray the village, using me as a scapegoat, and –

My train of thought was cut off as I felt Iruka pulling off the goggles I sometimes wore, replacing them with warm cloth, and I heard him say, "Okay, you can open them now."

I did open them, making my eyes look up at my forehead (totally pointless), and moved my hand to touch the strip of cloth that had been neatly tied there, and the plate of metal firmly fixed in position. My fingers brushed over the spiralling symbol engraved deeply into the steel, and my eyes widened instinctively, my mouth dropping open as my mind painted the Konoha leaf resting on my forehead.

The hitai-ate.

Iruka had passed me!

I was a ninja!

I felt the excitement bubbling up inside me and I let out an ear-splitting "YAHOOO!!!" and grabbed my sensei around the waist, hugging him tightly. "Thank you so much, Iruka-sensei!"

He laughed. "Well, the requirement is 'three bunshin', and you just made at least a thousand _perfect_ copies of yourself, using a jounin-level jutsu, no less! How could I _not _pass you, after a performance like that!"

I laughed myself, feeling like I was going to explode with happiness. I'd made it! I was a ninja, and I'd finally conquered that stupid bunshin!

"Come on, Naruto," my sensei laughed, "I'll treat you to ramen. It's starting to get late, and I _know_ you haven't had dinner!"

I whooped, and bounced alongside him as we started to walk back to the village. Then I paused. "Wait, what about Mizuki and the scroll?"

"Well, I hardly think Mizuki's going anywhere," Iruka pointed out. "He can stay where he is until the ANBU pick him up. I left a message explaining what happened, and I'm sure the Sandaime Hokage was following it in his crystal ball, so he'll know exactly what happened. The scroll can stay with us until we can return it safely to the vault."

I nodded energetically. That made sense, and better, it meant I could have dinner straight away!

I sat down at one of the stools at Ichiraku Ramen Bar, bouncing excitedly and begging Iruka for miso ramen. My sensei was chuckling under his breath as the chef plonked two bowls of ramen down in front of us, saying, "First batch of the morning, fresh and piping hot! Eat up, boys!"

_Morning, already, must have been busy for longer than I thought – _I heard Iruka's chopsticks crack and half-froze. I wasn't sure where mine were! Sasuke always tapped the table for me where the chopsticks where, or muttered under his breath, but he wasn't here, and I couldn't let Iruka know I was blind. I just _couldn't._

"NARUTO!" I heard a familiar voice bellow from down the street, and turned my head towards it. "Where the hell have you been?! I've been looking all over the damn village for you!"

I felt my face splitting into a grin. "SASUKE!" I hollered back at the top of my lungs. "_SASUKE!_ I PASSED! _**I PASSED!**_"

"What?!" He was closer now: I could hear his sprinting footfalls as he ran towards as and as he screeched to a halt he panted out, "How'd you do it? You passed, that's _great!_"

I grinned and formed the cross-seal. "Kage bunshin!" I announced happily, and the chakra instantly puffed out into a shadow clone, who did a backflip.

"That's awesome, Naruto!" Sasuke said. "Where'd you pick that up – oh, Kami, don't tell me you actually –"

"I borrowed the Forbidden Scroll and taught myself the Kage Bunshin," I told him, happily raining on whatever hope he'd had that I _hadn't _gone and done exactly that.

"Aaaargh! I told you not to tell me!"

Iruka cleared his throat, apparently surprised to see Sasuke talking so much. But really, if he's fighting with me, he talks quite a bit. He's very quiet around other people, most of the time, but, when it was just him and me, it was – _normal. _"Sasuke, Naruto did manage to pass, although –" he coughed – "it wasn't exactly orthodox."

I had freaked out over the cough. "Aaah! Iruka-sensei! I forgot, you're hurt! We have to get you to the hospital!"

Iruka chuckled. "Ah, don't worry about it; I patched myself up on the way here, and it wasn't that bad."

"Wasn't that bad?! Those shuriken-thingies were _awful! _They'd cause wicked injuries, you must be in _agony!_"

"Well, tell me all about it, then," Sasuke said, sitting down in the seat next to mine.

"But then the ramen will get cold!" I whined, the complaint a plea in disguise.

I heard Sasuke sigh, and then rap his knuckles on the counter in front of me. "The ramen's right there, moron; you can talk and eat at the same time. I know _that_ much about your table manners."

_I love you, Sasuke!_ I thought as I reached out and grabbed the chopsticks he had just indicated with that tap. In half a second I was gulping down the ramen and babbling the story out to my best friend, waving one arm around for emphasis at the important bits and shovelling noodles into my mouth.

"And then one of those shuriken-things went flying towards Iruka and it was _awesome, _I was just like POW and then it went flying and I said 'if you touch my sensei I'll kill you' and – those shuriken are _nasty, _do you have my sketchpad?"

Sasuke handed me a rectangular pad and tapped my knuckles with the pencil, which I quickly grabbed and flicked to a blank page, rapidly scribbling on the paper and sketching out the razors of the projectile weapon and the slight curve of each blade, the deadly-looking weapon feeling right as I checked the slight abrasions the pencil made with my fingers. That slight curve would explain the whistles I'd heard, and the collapsible mechanism would've made those clicks as it was unfolding. Made sense. "There, like that, about my armspan from point to point. Damn, those things were _nasty. _Like a shuriken, but way bigger and a little different, too."

I gulped down half of a second bowl of ramen in one go and continued, "Then Mizuki said – well, not so much said as laughed – that I couldn't touch him or something, and then I used the Tajuu Kage Bunshin and then it was pow, pow, kablam and he was _down! _There was, like, a thousand bunshin! It was awesome, the best one I managed all night! Then Iruka gave me his forehead protector and we came here, and then you showed up, and –"

"Yes, I know the story from there, you idiot," Sasuke sighed, but there was a hint of a smile in his voice. "But, that means you passed, right?"

I turned to Iruka, tensing my face muscles and raising my eyebrows in what Sasuke had nicknamed the puppy-dog-eyes no jutsu, and my sensei laughed. "Well, I'll have to change the results, but since the bunshin was the only thing holding Naruto back and he can do it beyond perfectly now, I really have no choice but to pass him."

"WHOOOHOOO!" I shouted, and Sasuke scowled, growling, "Dobe, not so loud! Must the whole village know?"

"Yes!" I declared. "In fact, screw the village, I want the whole country to know!" I jumped to my feet and opened my mouth, but Sasuke clapped both hands over my face, wrestling me to the ground.

"Oh, no you don't! I want to have eardrums when we get our teams! Which means I don't want you blowing them out a few damn hours beforehand!"

"Teme!" I spat around his hands, wriggling underneath his weight until I got the leverage to kick him off and then make a break for it as he made another leap at me. "See you later, Iruka-sensei!" I shouted as we bolted down the street.

Iruka sighed. "Those two… Just a minute ago I could have sworn they were best friends, and now they're trying to kill each other again. Honestly, the way they act sometimes…"

_**

* * *

**_

Attention:

_ Hatake Kakashi_

_**Memo:**__ It wasn't a request, Kakashi. You are taking a team._

_Signed,_

_Sandaime Hokage_

_**

* * *

**_

Attention:

_ Sandaime Hokage_

_**Memo:**__ I will agree to consider teaching a genin team this year, but I would like to request permission to teach the team containing Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto._

_Signed,_

_Hatake Kakashi_

_P.S. That wasn't a request either. Sensei's brat and Obito's brat or no brats at all!_

* * *

I was bouncing up and down continuously in my seat beside Sasuke later that morning (sleep? Why would I need such a useless thing?), again acting as a shield from the fangirls (who had yet to notice that the seat they were fighting over was currently occupied). Sasuke was ignoring me, although I had to be irritating him, but as per usual, I was less annoying than the female population of our class. Even if I was high for no particular reason.

"Naruto…" a voice sighed from above me, and I glanced up, hopefully meeting Shikamaru's eyes. His voice had a slower tempo than a normal person's, probably something to do with his laziness: he spoke slowly so that if someone got what he was saying before he finished, he wouldn't have to say the whole sentence. "You know, this class is for graduating students only."

I scowled. "In case you haven't noticed, Shika, I have a hitai-ate, which means that I _passed_. So I'm _meant _to be in here, thankyou very much."

He sighed again. "This is too troublesome…" he muttered, slouching off to a seat closer to the back, next to Chouji, who was eating chips again. Slightly stale chips, I noticed from the sounds of the crunches.

The din of the classroom only got worse when the two ringleaders of Sasuke's fanclub came shoving in, calling each other names and obviously arguing over the coveted position of being seated next to their hero. Sasuke let out a tiny sound that could have been a whimper, and I would have been teasing him mercilessly over the unmanly sound if I hadn't been distracted by a high-frequency screech blasting my sensitive ears.

After a few seconds, when the ringing had died down a little, I said, "Ow. I think I'm deaf in my right ear now." Sasuke sniggered.

"Well that sucks," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "You may not need your eyes to be a ninja, but you sure as hell need your ears."

"Wha?"

I wasn't _actually _deaf, but as I listened to the two girls bickered at each other at high pitches, I rather wished I was. Their pitch was giving me a #&%ing migraine.

"I was here first, Forehead Girl!"

"No way, Ino-pig! Sasuke-kun would _way _rather sit next to me than you! Wouldn't you, Sasuke-kun?" The sickly, vaguely bubbly tone the girl was using made me feel ill, while the high pitch just made my ears hurt.

"Hn." _Sure, take the easy way out, Sasuke._

"What am I, invisible?" I snapped aloud. "_I'm _sitting here, so go somewhere else!"

The fangirls turned their attention to me, which, while it gave Sasuke a bit of relief, gave me a headache even through the fingers I had the foresight to shove in my ears. I couldn't even _understand _half of what they were screeching, let alone _care._

Iruka's voice cut through the white wall of noise that was Sakura and Ino's voices, bellowing, "SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP, FOR KAMI'S SAKE!!!" I had almost forgotten how loud he could be when he needed to be.

Ino snorted and stomped away, a scowl evident in the weight under her footsteps, but to my absolute horror, Sakura squeezed onto the bench beside me. _Please don't let her speak, please don't let her speak, pleeeeeeaaaaase don't let her speeeeaaak…_

"Sasuke-kun, don't you hope that we could be on the same team? That would be great, wouldn't it?"

_She spoooooke!_ I moaned silently and hid my head under my arms.

"Hn." _No, Sasuke, don't encourage her!_

"Listen up!" Iruka barked. "You are now genin, which means that you take on genin duties! And it's not all fun and games anymore! The life of a ninja is full of hardships and trials to endure, pain and difficulty!"

He actually said a lot more, but I ignored him, tracing the grain of the wood of the desk with my fingertips until he started to call out the teams, when I blinked myself awake and asked Sasuke, "Sooo… what did he just say in that long and pointless speech that I didn't listen to?"

"That we are genin, ninja lives suck, and these are our teams," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"Ohhhhh. So why couldn't he just say that in the first place?"

"Because he's a teacher. Teachers are hard-wired to say as little as possible in as many words as they can."

"You would suck at being a teacher."

"You'd be great at it, if not for the fact that you couldn't see what the little snot-nosed toerags were doing."

"Why's that, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura put in, and my heart nearly stopped. Shit, she was listening!

"Because he's an absent-minded twat," Sasuke replied, and I breathed a faint sigh of relief before retorting, "I am not, teme – oooh, a bug!" I looked over the edge of my desk, tipping my head towards the small insect I could hear scuttling on the floor. My tone was argumentative, but Sasuke knew – through my proving of his point – that I was thanking him for the quick save.

"Hn. I rest my case." _No problem, Naruto._

"Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto… Uchiha Sasuke…"

Oh thank Kami. I felt my shoulder muscles relaxing, and Sasuke brushed my hand reassuringly.

"…And Haruno Sakura."

Oh _crap. _Me and Sasuke both groaned, while Sakura whooped with excitement at being put on _Sasuke-kun's team!_

Thud. I slammed my head on the desk twice more, before Sasuke poked me hard in the shoulder. "Knock it off, you don't have that many brain cells to lose."

"Teme," I grumbled.

Several hours of listening to Sakura's high-pitched fawning later and I was ready to crawl under a desk and _die_. "WHERE THE F*&% IS OUR F*&%ING SENSEI?!"

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled at me, "Don't swear in front of a lady!"

"I'LL SWEAR WHENEVER I GODDAMN WANT TO!" I yelled in her general direction – my ears were ringing, and it was getting harder to tell where she was. "AND WHERE THE F*&% IS THIS 'LADY' YOU SPEAK OF?!"

I heard her fist moving, but I was wedged between the bench and the desk and couldn't get low enough in time to dodge, catching her punch in the back of the head. "Owww!" I complained, having been shoved off the bench and onto the floor. "That huuuurt!"

"Hn. And you call yourself a ninja?" Sasuke's voice was mocking, but there was a flicker of concern only I could hear, and I mentally translated, _Are you okay? _A lot of what we say isn't in what's actually said. It means we can have a full-blown argument, and be discussing bits and pieces that no one else knows about. I think it's useful. Sasuke says it's creepy, but I'm pretty sure he's joking…

"YES I DO!" I shouted back at him. Translation: _I'm fine. _"IT WAS HER FAULT!" _She is so annoying!_

"Hn." _I agree. Let's kill her later._

Okay, so maybe the second bit was wishful thinking. Despite that, my mind was already going through vague half-formed plans of breaking into her house and setting her bed on fire. And _how _long were we meant to put up with her?

"I'M BORED!" I announced to most of the building, and rolled out from under the bench, bouncing down steps that I had long ago taught myself to navigate without falling flat on my face. I grabbed a chalkboard eraser from the bottom of the blackboard and went to the door, opening it a crack and wedging the duster up the top. The next person to open it would get a good bonk on the head.

"Naruto, what are you doing?!" Sakura snapped. "Your pranks are so stupid! Do you _want _to get in trouble with our jounin sensei?"

I snorted. "If he's good enough to know it's there, we'll get a little knowledge on his abilities. If he can't, he'll learn not to underestimate us just because we're kids. Fair trade. Plus, it's his fault he's late."

"Naruto! What if they're an emergency, and _that's _why he's late?!"

"By four hours? Nuh-uh. The only emergency I accept for that is 'dead' or 'mortally wounded'. Right, Sasuke?"

"You're such an idiot." Translation: _Bingo._

I heard footsteps echoing down the corridor: too light and far apart to be children, and the wrong pulse to be Iruka or any of the other teachers. I sat up a little straighter, and Sasuke shifted nearby to look at the door, he having noticed me hearing something worth noting.

I heard the door open and a single footfall as someone took a step inside, followed by the thup of the eraser hitting something. Sakura yelped, and I hissed to Sasuke quickly under my breath "What happened whathappenedwhathappenedwhathappened?!"

"He stepped in and the eraser hit him, right on the head," he hissed back. "Nice shot."

"Yesssss!"

"My first impression of you three is that… you're a waste of my time." His voice had a similar pulse to Shikamaru's, but was a lower baritone; more arrogant and even more _bored _than lazy.

"And my first impression of you is that you need an attitude transplant and a wristwatch," I retorted promptly. "Good thing first impressions are often wrong, eh, Kakashi-sensei?"

I got the definite sense that someone was glaring at me. I _wonder _who?

"Well, meet me up on the roof," our new teacher said boredly, and there was a poof and a flash of chakra – stronger than henge, and closer in timbre to kawarimi. Sakura gasped, and Sasuke muttered under his breath to me, "He just used shunshin. Showoff."

I nodded agreement, looking as if I was just nodding to myself for no real reason, and bounced to my feet; Sasuke stood up behind me, and I pretended to stare out the window for a second to let him get in front of me before following tamely. Sakura, closer to the door, went out straight away, and I heard her footsteps immediately take the stairwell towards the roof. Sasuke's hands brushed the edges of the doorway, letting me refix its position in my head, and as we started going up the stairs, he trailed his hand along the banister, the changes in the direction of the noise letting me know when there was a curve coming up.

"Ow!" I had walked into the doorway just before the roof – Sasuke's hand had missed the other edge of the doorway, and I had misjudged the width of the door without the second reference.

"Hn, you're so clumsy." _Sorry._

"Teme!" _Don't do it again!_

Rubbing my head, I moved out onto the roof and walked over to where Sasuke was standing, leaning against the railing he'd brushed with one hand a second ago. Sasuke himself sat down on the stairs about a metre away from my feet, and Sakura was on his other side.

"Well, now that we're all here, why don't we introduce ourselves?" Kakashi drawled. His voice was very bored, and it irritated me. If he was so bored, then _why _was he here? "Your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, your dream… that sort of thing."

"Why don't you go first, sensei, to show us how it's done?" Sakura suggested.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. Hm… well… likes and dislikes… eh, I don't feel like telling you those. My dream for the future… hm, never really thought about it. Hobbies… well, I have lots of hobbies. Your turn!"

_Well, that was helpful,_ I thought, frowning slightly. _He gave away a lot more than he let on, and I don't think he meant to… secretive guy… doesn't like to think about the future, probably lives in the past a bit, better keep an eye out for that… his likes and dislikes… I don't think they're something children should be privy to, judging from his amused tone there… hobbies… man, I think he really does have a lot of hobbies. Wonder what they are?_

"Well that was helpful!" Sakura exclaimed. "All we really learned was his name!"

Apparently she didn't catch that.

"Okay, you go first," Kakashi said.

There was a long pause.

Finally Sasuke sighed. "Idiot, are you even awake?"

_Shit, he was talking to me!_ "Uh, what was the question again?" I yelped, then acted like I had remembered, "oh yeah! Likes… I like ramen and my friend, bright colours, ramen, and music. I don't like silence. I reeeeeaaally don't like silence. Oh, and those three minutes you have to wait for instant ramen to cook after you put in the hot water. That's not instant! I hate, hate, _hate _high-pitched noises! They're even worse than silence! And really loud ones, they're bad, too. Uh, hobbies… my favourite hobby is drawing, but I make explosive seals, too. I'm working on shock tags, but so far all they do is light up the living room occasionally. So if I come in with singed eyebrows, you know why."

I stopped, expecting Kakashi to prompt the next person, but Sakura said, "What about your dream?"

I was immediately suspicious. Why did she care? Why had she _noticed? _Why did she give a damn about what my dream was, especially if I didn't want to tell her? Was she planning something? Was I too paranoid for my own good? Probably.

I contemplated this internally for a second, then swore mentally. _Oh crap, I'm turning into Sasuke!_

"Aw, come on, how would I know what my dreams are? I'm just an idiot," I whined. "Ask Sasuke, he's smart!"

"Can I have that in writing?"

"NO!"

"Okay, your turn," Kakashi said, and apparently indicated Sakura, as it was her voice I heard next.

"Well, my likes are… I mean, the person I like is…" there followed a little giggle. "My hobbies…" another weird giggle. I got the distinct feeling she was staring at my best friend, and smirked to myself. I was _so _teasing Sasuke about this later. I plugged my ears to avoid Sakura's high-pitch-y-ness and spent the rest of her fangirl speech planning out how to piss Sasuke off later, and also my escape route when he took a swing at me.

"And the last one."

Ah, Sasuke's turn. I tugged my fingers out of my ears – Sasuke's voice was always quiet and a good, low pitch. "I don't like much, and I dislike many things." _Translation: I like Naruto and tomatoes, and I dislike fangirls and a whole lotta other crap. _"I don't have any hobbies." _Though I'll never admit it, I like to help Naruto with his pranks to piss off people who annoy me. _"And my dream for the future…" His eyes narrowed, I could just tell from his tone. "Is to even the score with a certain someone."

Mentally I cursed. _Damn, I thought he'd outgrown the I-am-an-avenger-I-must-kill-Itachi phase… unless he's talking about the… oh_ crap_, I told him to leave that alone!_

I shot a dirty look in what I thought was Sasuke's direction, just in case. Judging from Sakura's failed attempt at hitting me, I think I missed.

"Well, you're all three individuals, each with your own thoughts and opinions," Kakashi said easily. "That's good. Now, tomorrow, we'll begin with a survival exercise."

"What? But we did survival exercises back in the Academy," said Sakura, sounding confused, and I gave a barely noticeable shudder. Those had been HELL for someone who couldn't see what the crap he was doing. Thank god for Sasuke. I remember this one time he got put on the opposite team and I know I totally flunked that one. I fell into a pool of freezing slime that I swear wasn't there a second ago.

I tuned back in just in time to hear Kakashi chuckling. _Huh? What'd I miss this time?_

"You see, out of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine of them will become genin."

"WHAT?!" Sakura screamed; I already had my fingers in my ears. If we did pass on the same team I was going to have to talk to her about the shrieking habit. I wasn't surprised by the 'extra test' thing – I'd heard some jounin discussing the 'second genin exam' a couple of weeks ago. I don't think I was supposed to overhear it, buuut… This was apparently it. Huh. They hadn't been joking.

I myself was scowling internally. Kakashi's tone had hinted at the fact he thought we'd fail his stupid test. Well, we'd show him! And anyway, he couldn't even dodge an _eraser _and had shown up four hours late. What sort of faith could you put in _his _words?

"So I'll see you guys tomorrow at five in the morning. Just remember: if you don't want to throw up, don't eat breakfast!" He vanished, and I immediately thought, _Screw the guy who needs a wristwatch!_

"Screw not eating breakfast!" I said aloud. "He's probably going to show up four hours late again, and if we haven't had anything to eat by then we'll be useless in any form of survival exercise!"

"Hn." _Good point._

"But Kakashi-sensei just _told _us not to eat breakfast!" Sakura insisted. "And we _have _to show up on time! That's how it works!"

"Actually, it was only a suggestion," Sasuke put in quietly.

"And how much stock can we put in this guy's words, anyway?" I pointed out. "Showed up four hours late, underestimated his team, couldn't dodge a simple chalkboard eraser – unless he was just too lazy to get out of the way, which is even worse – underestimated us _again_… And now he's told us to starve ourselves and then abandoned us until tomorrow. Suuure, I can respect him. Not."

Sakura began lecturing in her high-pitched voice, and I sighed. Damn, this was going to be a headache. I just knew it.

_**

* * *

**_

Attention:

_ Sandaime Hokage_

_**Memo:**__ You have got. To be f%&ing. Kidding me._

_Signed,_

_Hatake Kakashi_

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Japanese Translations:

**Sandaime**: Literally 'third', colloquially means "Third Hokage" in this context.

**Kyuubi**: This is generally the colloquial term for the fox demon that attacked Konoha. Its full title is Kyuubi no Kitsune, which translate directly to "The Nine-Tailed Fox", whereas Kyuubi just means Nine-Tails. Unless referring to his full title, Kyuubi is the term mostly used. This particular word is also spelt as 'Kyūbi', but this is going into romanji and confusing symbols on top of English lettering, so we won't go there. Just know that I prefer to spell it as 'Kyuubi'.

**Hitai-ate**: The headbands the ninja wear. These are forehead protectors, the metal plate to stop kunai killing you on instant impact, although not all ninja wear them around their foreheads. They have the village's symbol on them to say what village the ninja belongs to, and are considered a symbol of adulthood. Missing-nin usually have a slash through the middle to denote the fact that they have cut all ties with their former village – but an interesting fact is that Momochi Zabuza, a known missing-nin, wears an unslashed hitai-ate.

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Techniques:

**Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)**  
This is a variation of the original bunshin technique. However, instead of an illusion, it creates a solid, fully functioning copy of the user. They can be dispelled with one or two good hits or by puncturing the skin, but it is almost impossible to tell them apart from the original – the Byakugan can see a perfect copy of the chakra system, and only the Sharingan has the ability to tell them apart. Even then it is said to be extremely difficult. Kage Bunshin uses up a lot of chakra, dividing the user's chakra equally for each clone, said to be the reason it became a forbidden technique: it took enough chakra for people to kill themselves trying it. Twin1 has speculated its forbidden status may also be due to the fact that each clone is a whole new person with a personality and a will to live, the doubtful ethical issues having an effect on the jutsu's status. Only ninja jounin-level and up may know this one – except, obviously, Naruto. As far as seen in canon, no chuunin know it, and not all jounin can do it either.

**Shunsin (Body Flicker)**  
This one is the subject of much debate as to whether it is a speed jutsu or a teleportation jutsu, although the general consensus is a speed technique. The user uses their chakra to speed their movements to a level that the naked eye cannot track them and can move astonishing distances in what seems to be the blink of an eye. However, longer distances or larger changes in altitude use more chakra, which is why the Shunshin isn't used as a long-distance travel technique: it uses too much energy.

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Technique Concepts:

**Handseals**: This one may seem like a no-brainer to people who know the Naruto-verse well, but to those who don't, ninja use handsigns formed with both hands to stimulate and 'mold' their chakra to make their ninjutsu work. The twelve Zodiac seals are the ones most commonly referred to, although some techniques use other ones, including one-handed seals. The Kage Bunshin jutsu uses an unusual seal, first two fingers on each hand crossed in the evil-warding sign, colloquially referred to as the 'cross-seal'.


	3. And Pass Again

This chapter is dedicated to iluvromance909 for leaving the longest review yet for this story. This may not seem like a lot to you, but believe me, I really appreciate reviews that aren't three words long. And seriously, if I stuff up anywhere, I'm counting on you and Twin1 to poke me back in the right direction. Anyone else who read that, what the hell do you think you're doing? The story's a centimetre or two down, and that's supposed to be the interesting bit, y'know…

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Three: And Pass Again

Kakashi-sensei was late. Again.

"I've got half a mind to sneak into the records vault to find this guy's file, just to see if he's actually always this late, or if he just doesn't care enough about us to be on time," I muttered to Sasuke, who quietly 'hned' in agreement. Sakura was dozing nearby: she had been trying to stay awake, but had failed rather miserably.

Listening to her breathing cautiously, I asked Sasuke quietly, "What does Kakashi-sensei look like?"

Sasuke paused, considering his answer. "He's pretty tall, looks even taller with his hairstyle. His hair's silver and it sticks up all over the place; he looks about… late twenties, early thirties. He wears a navy blue mask that totally covers the bottom half of his face, and his hitai-ate is tied on at an angle to cover his left eye. He looks kind of disorganised, sort of lazy in his posture."

"Yeah, he sounds lazy," I commented. "And arrogant, that too."

"Hn." Sasuke fell silent. Damn.

I didn't complain too loudly though, content to listen to Sakura's breathing in the hope she'd stay asleep forever. Of course, it didn't last, and around seven thirty she woke up (fingers in ears), freaked out, realised our sensei still wasn't here, calmed down, and went to her favourite pastime: talking at Sasuke, who was ignoring her. When she failed to get any response, she went to her second-favourite pastime: staring at Sasuke like a lovestruck pigeon. Oh, wait…

I couldn't even see what she was doing, and I still knew the expression she was wearing. Sasuke had described it as the 'stupidly hopeful puppy' look.

Something like four goddamn BORING hours later, I heard the faint jingle of bells from one of the several trails through the forest, and glanced towards it. Sasuke came out of his broody-trance to look over as well, and I could hear footsteps now: Kakashi-sensei's pulse. Finally, our sensei was here.

"SENSEI, YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura shouted. I frowned slightly and muttered to Sasuke, "Mental note, buy earplugs."

"Am I?" our sensei asked, sounding genuinely surprised, and I decided that he _really _needed a wristwatch. The bells jingled. "Well, you see, I had to help this little old lady with her groceries, and I guess it made me a little late."

Sakura snorted disbelievingly, while I raised my eyebrows at Sasuke. I actually couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

"But anyway, on to survival training. Your task is simple." The bells jingled again; what was _up _with them? And what kind of ninja wore bells, anyway?

"You must get these bells from me, and you have until noon to do it." He put something down on a piece of wood – a stump, I remembered, was about where he was standing. Aaahhh. That's what the bells were for. Then: Crap, how could I get them if I couldn't even see them? Whiiine!

"But, sensei, there's only two bells, and there's three of us," Sakura said, sounding confused, and now I was, too. _Only two bells? Why's that? He said we had to get the bells – maybe it's just to make it a wider target than one? So it'll be harder for us to get in each other's way?_

"Ah, that's the catch, Sakura. Only the people who get a bell will be allowed to pass, and the one who fails will be tied to one of those stumps and will not be allowed to eat lunch, and will have to go back to the Academy." _…or not._

My jaw dropped open in a combination of horror and awe. Horror – _oh Kami, there is NO WAY in the nine hells I'm going back to the Academy_ – and awe: man, was this guy good. He'd told us not to eat breakfast, and me and Sasuke had both steadfastly ignored that. Sakura was probably starving, though. He had just effectively turned us against each other, too: each for his own.

"Ready? Go!"

Instantly Sasuke bolted, and I followed him through the trees straight away, listening to Kakashi-sensei behind us – he wasn't following us, which was good. Sasuke wanted to say something, but I couldn't tell what.

He paused; the air pressure here felt a bit lighter, and I guessed we were in a clearing. "Alright, so what was off about that?" he asked firmly.

I twitched my head at him, my mind flashing frantically. "I don't get it. And we don't have time for this – what if he comes after us? There's only so much warning I can give, and his footfalls are pretty distinctive, but he's a jounin and –"

"Calm down," Sasuke interrupted. "He's too lazy for that. He'll wait for us to come to him. Now, I'll say it again: what was wrong with that whole thing?"

I took a breath, trying to calm my mind down. "Well, for one thing, genin teams are always in teams of three. I've never, ever heard a team of less than three genin training or doing village missions around town. Not two, not one. Always three. Either all three of us are gonna pass this, or none of us will."

Sasuke nodded, his hair flicking against his face, the sound telling me his head motions. "Right. Which means the 'no-bell-no-pass' thing has to be a fake."

I pinched the skin next to my eye with two fingers, thinking. "There's no way in hell us genin can match up to a jounin," I pointed out. "Not on our own, anyway. But all together…"

"And we might just stand a chance," Sasuke finished. "Come on. Kakashi-sensei's busy reading a book, so we can get to Sakura and get her to help without many problems."

"Aw, man, do we _have _to…" I mumbled, following him – we were taking a circle around Kakashi-sensei, who as far as I could tell hadn't moved – "She gives me such a headache!"

"Deal, dobe. We need her if we're gonna pass this."

I grumbled under my breath and continued to follow Sasuke, slipping between the passing trees as he brushed them with his fingertips. Kakashi didn't seem to have moved and Sakura was hiding in the forest over… wait, who the heck was _that?_

"Sasuke, there's someone over with Sakura," I said aloud, "and Kakashi-sensei hasn't moved at all. I think there's some–" I swore aloud as my mind connected the identical footsteps and chakra signature (which really hadn't made sense) with the jounin-level jutsu I had learnt just last night. "Damn! Shadow clone!"

"A what?" Sasuke asked, his voice getting louder as he turned around to look at me, not pausing in his sprint. "A _what _clone?"

"Shadow clone, kage bunshin," I replied, moving around a bush that I remembered to have thorns. "It's a form of the clone technique, but it's not genjutsu – the clones produced are solid and have their own chakra source. They're very dangerous though 'cos they divide the user's chakra evenly. Make too many and you'll kill yourself with chakra exhaustion in under a minute. Kakashi-sensei must be pretty strong to even make one."

Sasuke grunted, absorbing the new information. "Do you know anything else about them?"

"Umm…" I frowned and clipped a tree with my elbow. "TEME! You missed a tree! The scroll I was reading said something about them being able to fool the Byakugan 'cos of their chakra systems, but the Sharingan can see through the jutsu. Hey, isn't the Sharingan your clan's bloodline?"

"Yes. Shut up, we're getting close to Sa–" There was an ear-splitting scream that actually made me freeze in place and clamp my hands over my ears in an attempt to ward off the nail being driven into my skull. "-kura," Sasuke finished with a faint sigh of exasperation.

"Toooo late," I muttered, carefully prying one hand away from my head to check if the noise was gone. It had.

"What can you hear?" Sasuke asked, coming back to me. He'd had the same thought as me, I think: that if Kakashi-sensei had made one clone to go after Sakura, what were the chances he'd made one to come after us so he could read his book in peace?

"Sakura's a hundred metres that way, unconscious, I think. Whatever that thing was – I'm pretty sure it was a shadow clone – it's gone now, and Kakashi-sensei is – shit. Twenty metres north and closing."

"Shit," Sasuke agreed, and whipped around to face the direction I'd told him.

"Double shit," I hissed under my breath, moving to stand at his back. "The bunshin's coming up behind us. This is not going to be fun."

"Hm. I can't say I expected to find you two together," our sensei's voice remarked from behind me. I didn't turn around, focusing my ears on the faintest of sounds the bunshin was making – barely detectable, but enough to alert me to the threat still coming. "You two are usually at each other's throats. Why cooperate now, when one of you could easily drag the other down?"

I scowled, knowing what he was up to. "Necessity," Sasuke informed him, also catching on. "Like one genin can take on a jounin."

"Even less likely…" I continued, narrowing sightless eyes at where the clone was just brushing past a bush and through what I thought was the boundary of our clearing, "is two genin against two jounin!"

I yanked on the back of Sasuke's shirt, and we both crouched down, dodging the flurry of metal weapons – kunai, I was reasonably sure from the sheer whistle of the blades cutting air, but Kakashi might have access to more dangerous weapons, and I smirked as I heard the sound of our sensei having to step to the side to avoid his own assault. I tugged again, and we stood up slowly, keeping our backs pressed against each other to cover all angles.

"What say we even this fight out a little?" I asked rhetorically, bringing my hands into my newly favourited cross-seal. "Kage Bunshin!"

Instantly ten puffs of smoke went off, surrounding me and Sasuke in a wave of haze. One of them henged instantly into Sasuke, leaving me and the original to take advantage of the cover and sneak away.

It wasn't a particularly _good _cover, and I had my suspicions that Kakashi-sensei had seen right through it, but neither he nor his bunshin followed us as we ran towards the spot Sakura was. Or the spot her breathing was, at least… Sasuke would probably have been completely unable to find her without my ears pointing him in the right direction.

…Or not, as he described the scene of her fainting.

"Looks utterly terrified, face white enough to make her hair look red –"

"What colour is her hair normally?"

"Pink, and I've heard it's natural."

Pink. I frowned, trying to remember that colour, before finally placing it and shuddering. It was a faded memory, and definitely not a good one.

I shook off the dull memories of colours I had been sifting through and said instead, "Any ideas to wake her up? We're going to need her, I'm sorry to say."

"If I knew a Suiton jutsu I'd use it," he muttered, and I grinned evilly.

"Makes me sad I don't know any, either. Ah well. Shake-and-shout it is, then."

She woke up screaming in terror, and I pinned my fingers in my ears for what had to be the tenth time that day. From Sasuke's tense reaction, she had thrown herself at him and was now sobbing into his shoulder. Something about him dying…

I stifled a grimace at _that_ thought and piped up, "We need a plan to get those bells off Kakashi-sensei. Just charging in randomly will only get us our asses handed to us on silver platters. Any ideas?"

"Naruto, don't swear!" Sakura snapped, coming out of her fear-induced stupor to yell at me. It wasn't the original intention, but hey, it snapped her out of it. Whatever works… even if it wasn't supposed to.

I ignored her and turned my head to Sasuke, who was quiet, probably thinking. "If what you already worked out is correct," he said slowly, "then the bells are only a target, something to focus on. What Kakashi-sensei actually wants to see is teamwork. But that can't be the only catch – the bells still have something to do with this. But there are only two of them…"

While he was muttering over that (I didn't want to know what Sakura was doing, as long as she was out of my personal space), I suddenly blinked at an influx of information, giving it several seconds' thought as I wondered how I knew that Kakashi had finished off my clones and was headed our way, though more slowly than he could have been. Then another flash of info: his clone was down, dispelled to nothing more than gases, and my last one had just been dispelled.

Hm. Did shadow clones have the ability to transfer information to their creator?

That was something to be investigated, but for now, I could definitely hear his footsteps. "Whatever plan you've got, I want to hear it now," I said to Sasuke. "Our sensei's coming – the clones didn't distract him for long."

"Well, that was amusing," said Kakashi's voice from somewhere behind Sakura.

"Shit," I said conversationally as I turned around. "Mental note: factor in sensei's INHUMAN QUIETNESS when calculating distance through footfall volume!"

Kakashi, if I could see him, was no doubt giving us a very evil grin. I swore under my breath multiple times and wondered if I could pull off a henge of Sakura. Not likely – Sasuke's had taken close to a month to perfect, and had to be updated regularly. I only had passing knowledge of Sakura. That option was out, although the clones would probably distract him long enough for us to…

For us to _what?_ We needed a damn plan!

There was a choked yelp as Sasuke was kicked off his feet, and I reacted immediately, catching him to break his fall and dragging him upright again in under a second while Sakura screamed and, I hoped, ducked. Sasuke wheezed for a second or two, leaning on me while he struggled to breathe. Right. Screw the plan thing, this guy was going _down! _No one hurt Sasuke and got away with it!

Not even his fangirls. I don't know why they think green hair is a bad thing… _I _don't see any problem with it… wait.

"Kage bunshin," I growled; that would keep him busy for a minute or two. "Sasuke, are you alright? What's Sakura doing?"

"I'm – fine," he gasped, "just winded. Sakura's – unconscious. No, wait, – she's waking up. Kakashi's – having trouble – with your clones. Too many. Holy crap. And I thought – one of you was scary."

"Yeah yeah, now shut up and think – we need a plan, pronto, I'm a genin, not a f%&ing taijutsu master. You're the smart one, remember?"

"We need to get him pinned, or at the very least distracted enough for one of us to grab those bells," Sasuke panted, his breath mostly back. "Half left of your bunshin. Distractions – I doubt we'd be able to get him off-guard enough. Do you know genjutsu? That could work –"

I snorted, reminding him that I couldn't even _detect _genjutsu. And that was when they actually affected me. Seriously, the eye-contact ones don't work, and the others are just effing annoying. Can't make 'em, can't dispel 'em, can't even _notice _them. I all-round suck at genjutsu.

"Can you make enough bunshin to –"

"No, there's only so much they can do. They're lightweights anyway."

Our conversation was cut short by me suddenly catching a punch to the side of the head, followed up by a kick to the side that sent me flying. Ow. I hate it when that happens. Sasuke was using Goukakyuu from the sound of things, and as I tried to stand up and stumbled, the rushing sound of fire eating the air nearby halted as Sasuke grabbed me, holding me upright and probably stopping me from knocking myself out against a tree. "The bunshin ran out, huh?" I said blearily, making the cross-seal. "Better fix that. Kage Bunshin!"

Another dozen clones flickered to life and attacked our sensei, and I leant my pounding head against Sasuke's shoulder. Damn, that punch had _hurt_. "We need a plan, and we need it _now. _I dunno how long I can keep this up, especially if I get punched like that again." Although the pain was fading again, and I could hear properly. My ears had been ringing slightly, but now I could hear Sakura's breathing and therefore didn't jump when she next spoke.

"I can use genjutsu as a distraction, if you need me to, Sasuke-kun."

He turned his head towards her, while I kept mine staring at the rather vicious-sounding fight going on between my clones and my sensei. I winced as one particular set of memories returned. Dang, that had to have hurt. Wait… it did.

Another clone was pinned down and then dispatched by kunai as Sasuke's mind whirred and clicked – I could almost hear it going with my ear right next to his head like this. "Okay. I've got it now," he said, and if I had touched his face, I knew I'd feel his smirk. The predatory smirk that made you glad he was on your side (if he was). The 'you-are-soooo-screwed-now' smirk.

We backed away, leaving my clones to bother Kakashi for a while, while Sakura set up her genjutsu and we all got into position. I couldn't sense anything happening, but I dismissed it as a 'you suck at genjutsu' thing. Then, when Sasuke gave the signal (a tap to the back of my hand) I mass-dispelled my remaining clones (there were only three left by this stage), then sent up a massive flare of chakra as I created as many clones as I could. Kakashi-sensei instinctively turned towards the flare, which was what Sasuke had been counting on. In the split-second he let down his guard just a fraction, Sakura's mild genjutsu took hold, and then I let all heck break loose.

At least a hundred clones exploded out of the forest, aimed at the thoroughly distracted Kakashi-sensei, and tackled him, weighing him down and frantically grabbing at the bells. Sasuke and the original me joined in the fray, Sasuke shooting a Hosenka that escaped my clones and singed our sensei, and me making a frantic dive for the temptingly jingling bells I could hear as the man staggered back to his feet. My hand closed around two metallic objects, there was a slight pressure and then a 'snap' as the strings broke, and then I hit the ground rolling.

Panting, I sprang to my feet, my fist tight around the bells we had fought so hard for, mildly surprised the genjutsu-ambush had worked, and mildly disappointed. I'd wanted to test my new shock tags, too…

The clones all backed away and then all dispelled at once, and I staggered at the sudden rush, but shook my head to clear it and looked up at the spot I could hear Kakashi-sensei's slightly elevated breathing. "We got the bells," I told him, holding one out to Sasuke, who took it and tapped it with one finger, testing the ring to check if it was genuine.

"So, who passes, and who fails?" Kakashi asked, sounding a blend between sombre and cheerful. It was a scary blend.

"We got the bells, and we used teamwork," Sasuke said firmly. "That's the purpose of this test: testing our teamwork. Not our genin abilities. Those have been tested already – now, we're put into teams to test it all out, the idealisms and promises. The bell thing is just to try to split us up – it's all a fake." He threw his bell at Kakashi, and it pinged off his forehead protector.

"Whoo, nice shot!" I said, aiming at the spot I'd heard the bell ricochet from, and with a clink I hit it too. "WHOO! Score for me!"

"True, true," Kakashi-sensei allowed, but I didn't relax. His voice's tone wasn't something that put me at ease. Not to mention we'd just thrown his test back in his face, rather literally. "But who fails? There are only two bells, and there are only two lunches, and three of you."

I scowled. Then, one of the memories of my clones filtered through, and a wicked grin took the scowl's place. "I don't like that look," Sasuke said quietly, "or at least I wouldn't like it if it was aimed at me."

I reached into my pocket, where a clone had slipped something before dispelling, and said, "So those bells are basically passes to being genin, right?" With a flourish, I brought out Kakashi's book from my pocket. "So, is your book worth a pass, Kakashi-sensei? Or shall we just burn it? Sasuke, got enough for one more Goukakyuu?"

I sensed Sasuke grinning as he said, "Burn the book!"

"Okay, okay, you all pass!" the man yelped, obviously fearing for the fate of his book. "How the heck did you get that?"

"I've been told I have very light fingers."

"_Why _did you get that?" Sasuke sounded confused, but amused, and probably a little relieved. We had, after all, just managed to extort our sensei into passing all three of us.

"A couple of my clones forgot what they were looking for, so they grabbed whatever they could. Oh, that reminds me, you might want these back." I fished out a couple of kunai, three shuriken, a ring of keys, a couple of scrolls, a pen, a pocketknife, a square mirror, a faded photograph, something that looked like a shopping list, a roll of bandage and what _felt _like a spare facemask, throwing them at Kakashi-sensei.

"You're a little kleptomaniac!" he exclaimed, catching his book and flipping it open immediately. The rest of his stuff was stowed in a random pocket.

"Oh no, if I was in klepto-mode you'd be lucky to still have your fingers, Kakashi-sensei. You can forget your clothes. And maybe the hair, too."

Our sensei cleared his throat, apparently somewhat nervous at that proclamation. "Well, by anyone's standards, you have passed the test," he declared. "Perhaps in an… unusual way, but you passed nonetheless. You worked together as a team to overcome an opponent with more experience on his side. But remember…"

His voice took on the quality of someone dispensing invaluable wisdom. And _no, _that wasn't sarcasm. The sobriety of his voice was clear to all three of us as he said:

"Those who disobey the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

Sasuke and I glanced at each other. I couldn't imagine leaving Sasuke behind, for anything. He knew everything about me, and I knew everything about him. Without Sasuke, I'd've either given up, gotten found out or gone completely crazy ages ago. Maybe even gotten myself killed. Without me, god knows what might've happened to Sasuke's mentality.

"You three worked together as a team, and even twisted the rules to your own gain, to ensure all of you made it through," he continued. "You're not just clones churned out of the Academy, destined for nothing more than death. You are your own people.

"Come on. Follow me."

Bemused, but silent, we followed our sensei back to the clearing we had first started off in. I smelled bento; probably from the boxed lunches Sasuke reported under his breath sitting near the training stumps. There was clean running water nearby; a small river. I remembered this clearing now: the Monument. Kakashi-sensei stopped in front of the polished rock, and I stopped a little way behind Sasuke, Sakura on the other side of him.

"Engraved in this rock are the names of many great ninja. Some of them even my comrades."

I registered my sensei's words, and filed them away, but under my breath I was reciting every name carved into the marble. "…Suzuki Hana. Higazawa Yami. Jiroto Kanayu."

Sasuke had bowed his head respectfully, and my eyes were aimed at the ground as I continued, "Uchiha Obito. Kanurae Tsume. Hanasaki Ginsei. Kurokane Ryu. Nezumi Rin."

The list went on and on; anyone else would have had trouble remembering them all. But the names were burned into my memory from the first time I'd sat here, my fingers brushing blindly over the names carved deep into the rock. It had been a pointless exercise, memorising them all, but I had done it anyway.

"…Takashi Aki. Umino Kosuke. Umino Sora. Namikaze Minato." **(1)** I paused for a deep, steadying breath, and Sakura spoke up.

"So all of these people… were considered great ninja by the village?"

"Yes," I said stolidly. "They were greatly respected. They would have died for their village, like so many others. But unlike them… they all did. Every name on this rock belongs to someone who was killed in action. This is the KIA Memorial, where all ninja who die in service to their village are remembered."

"You know all the names," Kakashi noted, and I realised his voice was a little tight. So slight, I was probably the only person who would have noticed, but still there. He was good at hiding it. His teammates were on here, weren't they? _Some of them even my comrades'. _Killed in action, a long time ago.

I only nodded in response.

For a long time, everyone was silent, the only sound of the wind rushing overhead or the subdued twittering of birds. Finally our sensei spoke again, and all three of us turned our heads towards him.

"Tomorrow, your life as a ninja begins," he said calmly, his voice back to normal. "It is a difficult road that you three have chosen, but based on your performance today… I think it's the right way to go." Then abruptly his voice changed from solemn to ear-painingly cheerful. "See you guys tomorrow at the red bridge at seven thirty! Don't be late!"

He vanished with the distinctive flick of chakra that I recognised as his shunshin, and slowly, I relaxed. We had made it. We'd passed the stupid test, and now we were genin. Officially.

"Oh, wow, Sasuke-kun! You were so cool!" Sakura shouted from somewhere off to the left. "The way you thought up that plan was just fantastic! You're a really good strategist!"

"What am I, invisible? It was me who made you actually start thinking, and then provided the manpower to actually pull it off," I grumbled, internally amused.

"Be thankful, dobe," Sasuke growled, sounding slightly suffocated. "At least it's not _hugging _you."

_**

* * *

**_

Attention:

_Sandaime Hokage_

_**Training Report:**__ Bell Test_

_**Jounin Instructor:**__ Hatake Kakashi_

_**Team:**__ Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto_

_**Statement:**__ Team passed. (Shut up, Genma.)_

_**Notes:**__ Sasuke and Naruto are both very quick-minded, able genin. Both seem to have speed on their side, and have the potential to become great one day. Sasuke has extensive Katon jutsu knowledge – expected – and is protective of Naruto – not so expected. Copy of Academy report requested._

_His reflexes are very good and he has strong leadership skills, but may be arrogant, cocky or overbearing. Needs further observation. Sasuke definitely has a vendetta against someone, but I'm not as certain as I was that it's his elder brother Uchiha Itachi – his attitude suggests someone else._

_Naruto is very good at hiding, even wearing that orange monstrosity he calls clothing (check his knowledge for concealing jutsu?). He was able to utilise and also detect the shadow clone jutsu in use, and was not fooled by my clone._

_He has very fine-tuned hearing and smell, but he seems to have slow sight reflexes – possibly a mental deficiency, or just short-sighted. He seems to rely on Sasuke a great deal and works very well together with him – they guarded each other's backs during an ambush and Naruto set up a distraction for them to escape in. He acts slightly standoffish towards Sakura; claims her voice makes his head hurt; may need to get his ears tested for hypersensitivity?_

'_Light fingers', as in managed to steal no fewer than eighteen items from my person without me noticing, and only two of them were the bells. Naruto claimed that his clones 'forgot what they were looking for' and so 'grabbed everything they could'. When accused of kleptomania, he laughed and stated that if he was in 'klepto-mode', I would be lucky to still have my fingers, let alone clothes and hair. Should probably get that checked, and if not fixed, utilised, as this skill reminds me uncomfortably of Sensei's sensei._

_Naruto acts very defensive of Sasuke, and may know how to make explosive tags (unverified, but probable. Be on guard. Given heritage, it wouldn't surprise me)._

_Sakura acted as predicted from her Academy report; seems jumpy in actual combat situation. She displayed her genjutsu knowledge during the test, and while it needs a little work, shows promise. She needs some serious training to bring up her physical strength and mental barriers, but does have some potential. Her main flaw is her obsession of Sasuke. Possibly unwise to put her on the same team?_

_Signed,_

_Hatake Kakashi_

**

* * *

**I am aware that other people have likely died since Minato did. However, there has been a time of relative peace, and I need the list to finish there for dramatic purposes, so put up or shut up.

**(1)** All of the names on that list, aside from Uchiha Obito, Namikaze Minato, and 'Rin', are made up. I am unable to read the writing on the memorial properly – it's too small. I need more close-ups for that.

Japanese Translations:

**Genjutsu**: Another branch of ninja techniques along with taijutsu and ninjutsu, but this one is based on illusionary techniques.

**Katon**: Literally Fire Release; a designation for elemental techniques like Sasuke's Goukakyuu and Hosenka, specifically fire element.

**Suiton**: Literally Water Release; a designation for water-element techniques.


	4. D Rank

**Four: D-Rank**

"Aack! Where did that little brat go?!"

Sasuke stomped into the room, footsteps chattering over the wooden floor, where I was calmly sitting on top of the table. I hadn't done a lot of running around since we got here, owing to the fact that this was new territory to me and I had no clue where the f*% I was and would probably walk into a wall. However, I was definitely useful for locating the little toerags who were our charges.

"In the refrigerator," I reported, being able to hear the muffled yelps of 'It's _cooold _in here!' which Sasuke probably couldn't.

My friend froze – no pun intended. "How the crap did he get in there?!"

I shrugged unconcernedly. "Locked himself in. He's playing hide-and-seek with the one under the sink."

"Aha, so that's where that one went." Sasuke locked the cupboard door. "What about number three?"

"Under the bed, playing with dust bunnies!" Sakura shouted from the bedroom.

"Aaah. That's what that noise was. Now, where's number four…"

"OUCH!" Sasuke yelped.

"Too late."

"Wait, how can One and Two be playing hide and seek if they're both hiding?" Sasuke asked, grabbing hold of Four before she could run off again.

"I'm looking," I reported.

"A_ha._ That makes more sense now."

D-rank missions, I decided, as we shoved the four brats into the bathtub and scrubbed until Sasuke decided they were clean and then dragged them into bedroom and guarded all the exits, were extremely boring. Not to mention pointless.

"I just don't see the point," I complained to Sasuke over an hour later, as we walked back to the bridge to meet our sensei, who would either be there waiting like he'd never moved, or _we'd _wait up to four hours for him to show. "I mean, I understand that the babysitting thing is bodyguard practice, and find-the-pet is search-and-retrieve, while package delivery happens in the real world, but over far bigger distances. It's all ninja practice that never has to leave the village. But painting a fence? Cleaning up the park? What's that for?"

"Humility, probably," Sasuke said, ignoring Sakura, whose feet I could hear dragging along the ground – she was clinging to Sasuke's arm again, and he was apparently pretending she was not there. "Us genin have big heads, and the D-ranks are supposed to teach us humility and respect."

"Does it work?" I asked, my ears keying in to at least two genin complaining to their teacher that they were tired of walking dogs. Their voices were unfamiliar, so they were probably in the year above ours, or the year above.

"Not really. It was a good idea, though."

We were getting close to the bridge now – at least I thought we were. I'd never approached it from this angle before. I thought I could hear Kakashi's breathing, but I wasn't sure if it was him or – nope. Definitely Kakashi. Over the last two weeks we'd been genin I had learned to identify his perverted little giggle when he read the Icha Icha book that Sasuke and I had threatened to burn during our bell test. And my chakra sensing, which was slowly improving, recognised his familiar warmth easily, though not as easily as my other teammates'.

"Heya Sensei, what do we do now?" I asked brightly, bouncing to a stop on the wooden planks of the bridge and leaning on the railing. "Whose fence needs painting or brat needs watching? Which boring D-rank have we been assigned this time?"

There was the soft flap of his book snapping shut and I glanced at the spot I estimated his head to be at, widening my eyes in a questioning expression.

"I think you guys have done enough D-ranks for this morning," he said, his voice sounding dangerously cheerful. I backed up a step and nearly went over the railing, but kept my eyes (or rather ears) on our teacher warily. I did not like his tone. Happy was not a good thing. "So I think we'll do some training for this afternoon!" He was up to something, very definitely.

There was a slight ruffle as he raised his arm, holding something up; Sasuke and Sakura groaned, but I was utterly perplexed. "What are they for?"

He was definitely grinning. "These are blindfolds, my dear genin."

I couldn't help it. I laughed.

It felt weird, having the cloth tied around my eyes like that, but at the same time it made me feel more secure, not having to worry about leaves or dust getting into my sensitive eyes. Yes, sensitive. They may not be able to _see, _but it still hurts like hell if bugs wander into them… Sasuke had walked into the bridge railing four times already, and Sakura was stumbling around blindly. I was just standing with one hand on the railing, listening to the breathing of my sensei and Sasuke's muttered curses, which were slowly getting worse.

"Okay," I said loudly, "this isn't getting us anywhere. Stop moving, the pair of you." They both froze. "Okay. Just stand still. Get used to the fact that you can't see; just hold still and let your other senses take over."

My teammates were now standing still, and Sasuke had stopped cursing. "Now sit down, slowly. Just sit for a few minutes. Your other senses will compensate for no sight. Just hold still. Focus on what you can hear, what you can smell. Breathe deeply; touch the wood underneath you; nothing matters but what is around you."

I listened to their life signs, which felt slightly clearer now, as they calmed down. Sensei was nearby, but not doing anything, and I ignored him and his low, faintly familiar life signs. We all sat for a few minutes, until I continued, "What can you hear?"

"Your breathing, Kakashi-sensei flipping pages," Sasuke said quietly. "Wind stirring the leaves, the river flowing underneath us. I can hear the village, and birds in the forest."

I nodded to myself, then remembered they couldn't see me. "Sakura?"

"Um… the same as Sasuke, mostly. I can hear… dogs barking… and… I think there's a team of genin in the forest near here, training."

I focused; yep, there was. I'd been mostly ignoring them, but now I recognised the voices, their chakras faintly tickling at my senses: familiar, but not identifiable by their essences alone. "Yes, that's Team Eight, training with their sensei. They're practising tracking. Okay, do you feel confident enough to stand up yet?"

I was suspicious as to why Kakashi-sensei had yet to intervene, but I didn't really care, either. Sasuke was the first to stand up, then me, followed less certainly by Sakura. "Find the railing of the bridge," I told them; I still hadn't taken my hand off it. "You need a reference to work with until you get used to this. Don't move; just reach out until you touch it."

Sakura was now clinging to the railing, and I hoped it wasn't actually splintering under her grip. Sasuke was only just brushing it with one hand, and I simply let my hand rest on top of it. I knew this area like the back of my hand now, so with any luck, I'd be able to get these two through it when they were used to using their eyes.

"Well, you three seem to be well-adjusted," said our sensei brightly, and I cursed eloquently under my breath. I'd forgotten about him. "I guess now the _real _training can start!"

Both Sasuke and I swore under our breaths. Sakura was innocent of the trouble we were about to get into, asking, "What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei? I thought this _was _training?"

"Damn, we got saddled with an idiot," I muttered under my breath.

"Oh yes, Sakura, this _is _training," said Kakashi-sensei, still all-too cheerful. "But I know a way to make it much more effective, and lots more fun for the three of you!"

I could feel the blood draining out of my face as he spoke. "We are so dead."

Our sensei stepped forward, handing something over to Sasuke, who fumbled with it for a second, before running his hands over it, trying to 'see' what it was. "What the crap is this for?" he asked, and I walked over slowly to tap the back of his hand, asking to hold it.

He handed it over, and I ran my fingers across it lightly. "Mission scroll," I decided.

"You better not be expecting us to read that," Sakura said, sounding dangerous. I winced and took a step away from her, just to be on the safe side.

"No, no," Kakashi-sensei laughed. "It's actually a mission report that I want you to deliver to the Hokage Tower. Preferably today. Of course, the blindfolds stay on until you get it there and deliver it properly."

This time all three of us swore.

"Have fun! Oh, and by the way, Sasuke, you can't use your ninjutsu, and Naruto, no shadow clones. No deadly force, either, so no blows aimed to kill, or any lethal weaponry. There's another genin team that has been instructed to steal your scroll, so you may want to watch out for them."

"WHAAAAT?!!!?"

But he had already used shunshin to flicker out.

"We seriously need to rewire his idea of 'fun'," I grumbled. "Okay, this isn't gonna be easy; we'll need a plan."

"I'm going to go for follow-the-leader," Sasuke said grouchily. "You know this village a lot better than I do and can actually walk it blindfolded."

"Really? I was favouring the track-down-sensei-and-kill-him plan," I returned. "But yeah, okay, a bit more depth is required."

"Okay." Sasuke paused, thinking. "Okay. Here's the plan. You lead me and Sakura through the village, and try to stop us from getting ourselves killed. Listen for our pursuers and warn us if they start to go for us; if that happens, DON'T split up. Stick together. Sakura, if Naruto yanks on your shirt, he wants you to duck. Do it straight away. I'll carry the scroll, but if we get into a really sticky situation, I'll throw it to Naruto so he can get it out of here."

"Oh, no," I told him flatly, "I'm not going anywhere near Sakura's shirt. She hits me enough as it is. And I'm not leaving you two on your own, blind – you'll get yourselves killed in seconds."

"How about this, then? When we get into trouble, I'll throw the scroll to you, yell "Naruto has the scroll!" and then we'll freeze until you come back for us."

"Yeah, that works."

"But then Naruto might get hurt!" Sakura pointed out; her voice was drifting away.

"Stop moving, you'll fall into the river," I informed her, and she froze with a squeak of terror.

"Sakura, Naruto can escape from ANBU. I think it's safe to assume he can outrun a team of genin, if he's managed to get away from four ANBU squads."

"Ah, my finest hour," I said dreamily, and then laughed. "Sasuke, that dirty look you tried to throw me totally missed. I'm over here, teme."

"What has Naruto been doing that had ANBU after him?" Sakura asked, apparently confused.

"He considers pissing people off an art form and a partial method of revenge. You can just imagine where that's led him."

"Come on, we need to get moving if we want to get this thing there before nightfall, and I soo don't want to sleep on the streets blindfolded." I rapped the railing with one hand. "Village is this way; follow the sound of my voice. I can't tell you exactly where every pothole is, but I know where most of them are."

"When we get into the village we'll have to be touching," Sasuke said quietly, following me carefully, one hand on the railing and his footsteps uncertain. "Sakura and I can't follow you from the sound of your voice alone – it's too noisy. We haven't had any training in this before."

"What, have you had training in this before, Naruto?" Sakura asked instantly. "Why's that? Did you have a sensei before? How did you do it? Was it hard? Why would you need to have training like this –"

"Sakura, pipe down," I sighed, grabbing Sasuke's shirt before he could walk into a tree. "If we're going to do this without getting rather badly hurt, we can't have you squeaking continuously at me."

"But why would you need blindfolded training –"

"Sakura, shut up." Ah, Sasuke's patience had worn thin.

"Okay, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke was smirking now; I put up one hand and gently brushed his face, determining that, yes, the stupid smug expression was firmly in place. "Eat your heart out, Naruto."

"I hate you."

"I know, I know; right back atcha. Now come on; the sooner we finish this mission, the sooner we can ditch the blindfolds."

Sakura's hand was clinging to my jacket, while Sasuke's hand just rested on my arm. He was surprisingly good at this. Then again, maybe he just trusted me. I briefly considered if this was a good thing, and decided to point out, "This is such a case of the blind leading the blind that it's not even funny."

"Shut up and lead."

I did, content to sing 'Three Blind Mice' as loud as I possibly could. Sasuke, predictably, ignored me. Sakura was trying to hit me but missing. I considered hitting her instead, just to show her, but decided against it. It wouldn't be fair to hit a blind girl. Now, if she hit me first, then anything short of murder was fair game.

It was just after we made it into the village that I heard signs of people following us, and immediately focused in on them, blotting out the dull murmur of the village, deciphering three sets of footsteps: they weren't exactly trying to hide them. Definitely genin. One with the spring of a taijutsu user, another too light and even to tell, and the third set was female, a little bouncy… was she walking with a limp, or just moving unevenly? At this distance, I couldn't tell. Their chakras were faint tingles of weight at the edge of my consciousness: I wasn't good enough yet to really tell what was going on.

Apparently I was concentrating a little too hard on the far-off tingles, as I stumbled over the gutter and brought all three of us down, the other two landing on top of me. "DAMMIT, NARUTO, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" Sasuke yelled.

"Hey, in case you haven't noticed, I'm blind too!" I yelled back, and as I pulled him to his feet I whispered in his ear, "Three followers, definitely genin older than us. Don't know them, at least one taijutsu user."

"I hate our sensei!" Sasuke complained loudly to cover the near-silent exchange, and stumbled over the same gutter I had just stepped in. I held him upright with a curse or two and then said, "So we know there's a gutter there, could we step _over _it now?"

"Sure, why not?" said Sasuke dryly, picking up his foot and placing it well clear of the drain.

We kept going, and I listened intently to the genin who were stalking us. Not so intently that I didn't remember where the giant pothole was, though, leading my teammates around it while the hunting team was talking. They were close enough now that I could hear nearly everything.

"Isn't that the top rookie's team, Team Seven?"

"I believe so, my youthful teammate!"

I shuddered. _Now _I knew these guys. I'd never officially met them, but it was impossible not to at least hear them at some stage, and in eight years of blind wandering, I had heard them quite a lot. Better, I had scavenged their Academy records.

"Okay, I know who they are now," I muttered. "Team Gai, also known as Cell Nine; they graduated last year. Two males, one female; female is Rock Tenten, weapons mistress, hits targets with any weapon you care to name and then some ten out of ten, a hundred times out of a hundred. She has some weaponry-related jutsu, but she's a pure kenjutsu fighter; I don't know of her using genjutsu at all, and she prefers a ranged fight, no hand-to-hand.

"Her cousin, Rock Lee, is a taijutsu user, something's up with his chakra coils that prevents him using any genjutsu or ninjutsu, but he makes up for it in sheer hard work; not to be underestimated, he is deadly fast, too fast to see or even hear when he's going top speed without weights. There are _jounin _who can't track him when he doesn't have his weights on. His personality is a little… weird. I've been told he's a smaller version of his sensei. Scary thought, that.

"Last one is last year's Top Rookie, Hyuuga Neji, Hinata's cousin. He's a basic Hyuuga, uptight bastard, but he's pretty talented. And he's got this weird thing about Fate and Destiny. And all sorts of other crap I don't understand, or particularly care about. He's supposedly a genius, but I can't judge it too well without more background. He uses the Hyuuga Jyuuken style as his taijutsu; as far as I know he doesn't have much else. Definitely a close-combat fighter."

"It's creepy how you do that," Sasuke remarked quietly, so that the tracking team would have trouble hearing. "You can tell a person's entire life story from their footsteps."

"Only if I've stolen their files before," I pointed out, "and these guys are pretty pathetic as far as being inconspicuous goes. Lee can't whisper, and he has a very… I'll say _distinctive _way of talking."

"How good are they at tracking?" Sasuke asked quietly; Sakura seemed to have decided to stay quiet. Thank god.

"What's it matter, you're _blind. _Genius or no, I bet you wouldn't be able to hide your trail. The Hyuuga can see through things with their kekkei genkai, that eye-jutsu-doohickie."

"Byakugan."

I ignored the correction from Sasuke and continued, "So we've got nowhere to hide from him as long as we're within range, assuming he's using it, which I'll bet he is. Unless they're going easy on the poor blind idiots, which I doubt. As for actual tracking… once we're _out_ of range, they are soooo screwed."

"So it's speed for speed?"

"Yep. And we can't see what the hell we're doing."

"Where are we, anyway?" Sakura asked.

"Um, not sure. Signpost! Yes! Sasuke, gimme a boost."

"You can't _read _it," Sakura pointed out as Sasuke hoisted me up by the waist, me going hand over hand on the pole I'd found, feeling for the signs that had to be up here somewhere.

"Oh shut up." Aha! There they were! I ran my fingers across the weathered carvings, reading aloud, "Fubaki Street and Shikaron Avenue. Hokage Tower is… this way." I turned my blindfolded head in the direction I knew the Hokage Tower was, and… yep, the distinct chakra disturbance that was a collection of raw power was there, too. I'd gotten it right. Hokage Tower was one of the few buildings I could actually sense for the sheer power; the Academy was similar. However, in a village bubbling with chakra, it was almost impossible to find wavers of power that were separate buildings without some hint of direction. If someone told me, I could feel it there – but if I wasn't sure, it might as well have been the southern gate. I couldn't sense ANBU HQ, either: it was shielded from cheeky little chakra-sensers like me.

"I am a genius," I declared, sliding down the pole and narrowly missing knocking Sasuke over.

"Hey genius, would you mind getting off my foot?"

"Oh, can it, Sasuke, we're about a kilometre of walking distance; it'd be five hundred metres or so but there's a load of shops in the way." I sniffed the air, instantly locating the scents of my comrades, and also the various smells sent off by the shops. The other genin were closing in, but slowly – possibly they'd been ordered to go easy on us, but I doubted that would count for much.

"The other genin are closing in – they're trying for a pincer movement, and they've blocked off the quickest route," I noted, vaguely hearing them conversing, spattered with squawks of static, so probably via headphones. "They know Sasuke has the scroll. They're going to try to split us up, and if we get divided we'll be totally helpless."

"But, they must know they have the advantage," Sakura said, sounding uneasy. "Wouldn't they be ordered to go easy on us?"

"Yes," said Sasuke flatly, "but their pride is worth more. They're not going to be shown up by a trio of rookie genin if they can help it. This is a four-way crossroad, isn't it, Naruto?" His voice dropped to almost nothing on the last sentence.

"Yes," I agreed, nodding automatically – training myself to give visual aids, when I myself didn't need them, had been difficult, but worth it. I lowered my voice again, giving them the important parts. "They've blocked the way we came, the shortest route, and the second shortest, but I know how to get there through the way they couldn't cover."

Sasuke grunted; it was a vaguely affirmative noise that meant 'lead on' or 'hurry up already' or both. I started to walk, fast, knowing our only hope was speed, then broke into a jog down the uncovered street. The other two kept up, although Sasuke's hand tightened on my arm and I was sure Sakura would tear through my jacket at any second.

I turned down a street I remembered, less of a street than an alley, and burst into a run that had the other two nearly tripping over themselves. This was a shortcut; hopefully, it would give us more of a chance. The hunter team had sped up, no doubt hoping to reform and catch us up, but sadly for them, I knew my way around here well. Very well.

Then I swore, sensing an abrupt change in chakra _(need to remember that shift) _and hearing the grim order: 'Attack and stop at all costs'. "Damn, they've gone attack mode!" I barked. "Sasuke, hand over the scroll." We were back on a moderately busy road, in the middle of a market, I thought. I grabbed the hands of the other two, pulling them over to a wall and pushing them against it. "Stay here. Sit down and don't move. I'll come back for you once I've lost the genin; stay alert, and the password is 'sunflower'."

"But Naruto, surely it's better for Sasuke-kun to hold onto the scroll," Sakura began, and I winced, but Sasuke intervened.

"Sakura, what was your favourite subject back in the Academy?"

She immediately abandoned her previous train of thought and set to babbling on her Academy days. I knew that if I touched his face I would feel the long-suffering expression on Sasuke's face, and promised myself I would make it up to him later.

I focused on the genin, who had half-paused, and could just barely make out their conversation through the bustle of the rest of the town.

"What are they _doing?_"

"It appears they are splitting up in an attempt to confuse us! How unyouthful!"

"Well, that's stupid. It's obvious the Uchiha would have the scroll – he's the only one tough enough to have a chance at hanging onto it."

_Crap, they're smart._ "Whoo!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs, waving the scroll around desperately. "I stole the scroll off Sasuke! I am a genius! I am the best!" I yelled, and then sprinted off through the streets.

"Well, that one's an idiot," the Hyuuga remarked, and the three of them all set off in pursuit of me. I breathed a sigh of relief, tripping over a crack in the sidewalk as they bypassed my teammates and came straight after me. I kept going, taking a left at my next turn; I knew exactly where I was going. I listened behind me, trying to hear the conversation of Team Gai.

"Are you sure the blonde kid is blindfolded? He's running so confidently." That was the girl.

"…yeah. He just ran confidently into a wall." The Hyuuga, obviously.

"OW! Okay, new wall." I staggered painfully, having just found out I _wasn't _on the street I thought I was. Damn. "Great. Where the crap am I? Sir? Sir! What street is this?" I asked a passerby I could hear.

A female voice returned, "South Street."

"Oops. Sorry, ma'am. Thankyou, though!" I turned around and raced off, hearing the genin team immediately follow – I think they were on the rooftops.

"Three, two, one…" one of them said, and then I turned the corner back onto the main road.

"Are you _sure _he's blindfolded?" the girl of the team demanded.

I ran into someone headfirst and cursed, staggering and almost falling. "Sorry sir!" I yelped, and then ran off again before the genin could catch up. I could hear the man swearing at me for quite a while, but hey! I was in a hurry!

"Yes, I'm sure," the Hyuuga said dryly.

I took off again at a full-pelt sprint, racing for the Hokage Tower, making it seem as if I was just trying to run the gauntlet as fast as I could.

"Tenten, take him out."

Aw, crap. They were actually trying to attack me. I put on a burst of speed, but one of the genin – the female – I think – sprang down in front of me. I didn't bother dodging and just ploughed into her, knocking her over and making a small jump to avoid stepping on her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hit you!" I lied over my shoulder at top volume.

"Right, that brat's going down," Tenten said – yep, the girl. Unfortunately for them, I had already vanished.

Panting, I made my way through the back alleys back to where I'd left Sasuke and Sakura, coming up beside them and then pausing, mentally checking the other genin. They had figured out I wasn't headed for the tower, but had yet to work out where I actually was.

"Okay, I ditched 'em, but it's only temporary," I said quietly, making Sakura jump. Heh, she's so twitchy. "Sunflower. Get up. If we take the street they had blocked, we'll be there in two minutes."

"Give you any trouble?" Sasuke asked, letting me pull him to his feet.

"They tried to set Tenten on me but I just trampled her. I think they're trying to set up traps to catch us on our way there. Damn. I hate it when that happens."

"You trampled Tenten?" Sasuke repeated. "Why didn't you just dodge her?"

"She was trying to grab me! And she would've just kept coming. As it is she wants to kill me."

"How is this a good thing?"

"Anger may cloud her judgement. If not, it'll give me motivation to run."

"Oh man, let's just get this over with," Sasuke sighed, stumbling over a pothole.

"Yessir!"

And then we were running. They weren't happy about it, but hey, I was physically dragging them so there wasn't much they could do about it. "Get ready," I muttered under my breath, "they're gonna ambush us. Get ready to dodge and three… two… one… DUCK!"

I yanked them both down and as a volley of weaponry went overhead (were those _water balloons _I could hear?) I frantically searched my pockets. _Dammit, I know I put those stupid things here somewhere… AHA!_

I pulled a round stone from my pocket and tugged a strip of paper from the sheaf I was holding, wrapping it clumsily around the stone where it stuck instantly. I focused a flash of chakra into it and hurled it at the three genin who were dropping down on us, preparing a new tag but not yet throwing it as I dragged my team back to their feet.

There was a flare of chakra as it was released and three screams of pain. I glanced around. "Did the shock tags actually work?" I asked, sounding astonished. Those things had been giving me grief for a month.

Kakashi's voice replied, "Not exactly. Flash tags, not shock tags. Nice big burst of light, though; they're probably just as blind as you three are, now."

"Ah, really?" I perked up, glancing at my sensei's hiding spot – he was standing on a light pole. "Damn, got the light part down, now I just need the 'ning'! Hey, Sasuke, have you seen any spare ning around here?"

"Idiot. Let's finish this mission so you can go finish your damn shock tags!"

"Good plan. Kakashi-sensei, where's the Tower?"

"You do realise you're not supposed to ask me that?" He sounded amused. "How do you even know where I am?"

"Kakashi-sensei, it's time you just admitted that I know everything!"

"If you know everything, then where's the Hokage Tower?"

"…Touché. Hey, you there, where's the Hokage Tower?" I called to yet another random. Gee, we really seemed to be bothering a lot of people today.

"You're standing right in front of it," came the irritated reply.

"Oh yeah, I knew that. Let's go, guys!"

"Oh no you don't!" came Neji's shout from behind us. We all ducked, and there was the sound of a body hitting the ground; he had tried to tackle us, and apparently missed. We'd had all afternoon to get used to being blind, and I'd had most of my life; his team had had vaguely thirty seconds.

"Sorry Neji," I told him, "but I guess we're just that much better than you this time."

We stepped over him – though I think Sasuke purposely stood on his hand – and entered the Hokage Tower. From there, it was a simple matter of handing the scroll over to the chuunin in charge, who seemed bemused to have three blindfolded genin troop in and hand over a mission report.

"Mission accomplished," said our sensei brightly. "You can take off your blindfolds now!"

"Oh thank god!" Sakura exclaimed, yanking violently at the cloth over her eyes. "That was so annoying, wasn't it, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he pulled off his own blindfold. I undid the knot at the back of my head slowly and let the cloth fall into my hands, opening my eyes automatically and expecting to see exactly what I did: nothing. I felt the smile slowly slide off my face and my spirits dim.

"Darn it, my eyes have gone all blurry now!" the girl exclaimed. She seemed determined to make up for her nervous _(read: petrified) _quietness on the mission. "How about you two?"

"Hn," Sasuke repeated, rubbing violently at his eyes with the backs of his hands.

"Same," I said quietly, keeping my voice carefully neutral. I wasn't talking about the blur: I was talking about the blackness. They'd just escaped it; I was still trapped there.

My sudden dull, neutral tone got Sasuke's attention. "Hey, Naruto, are you alright?" he asked, sounding slightly anxious.

I forced a smile onto my face. "Sure, I'm fine," I replied. "I'm going to head home, though – I still need to find the 'ning' for my shock tags! I want to get them finished!"

I turned away from them and walked out of the Tower, ignoring Sasuke shouting after me, "Naruto! Hey, Naruto!"

It took me sixteen minutes exactly to get back to my empty apartment and let myself in. I sank down onto the floor in my living room, crossing my legs and staring sightlessly at the half-finished tags scattered around me.

Carefully raising my hand, I held it about an inch in front of my nose and marvelled at the blackness, not even the strange chips of colour I had gotten when I closed my eyes, when I was younger. A void of pure black. I wondered what my hands would look like now – surely they were different than the small, soft things I remembered. I traced the raised right hand with my left, counting calluses, scars and blisters, little changes in the skin's natural makeup.

It wouldn't be so bad, I mused, if I didn't remember. If I had been born blind, and had no idea what orange was, or what the clear, open sky looked like, or how beautiful an autumn tree could be, because then it would be impossible to miss them. But I _hadn't_ been born blind – I'd been _blinded_. It didn't sound that different, but it made all the difference in the world.

Sasuke thought I was used to it – or, I _thought_ he thought I was used to it. It had been eight years, after all; that's plenty of time to grow accustomed to darkness. Right?

Wrong. I could never get used to this.

When I had been younger, I sometimes would wake up in the middle of the night, terrified beyond all reckoning by my nightmares, and face only the ocean of nothingness, the empty void that had become my world. And no matter how loud or long I screamed, no one could save me from that void.

Fury wrenched at my chest and mind, totally unanticipated, and I punched the floor beneath me. No-one had even _tried_!

But was that right? I wondered suddenly. Hadn't Sasuke done his best, tried his best to… to save me?

_Well, it didn't work_, I thought sourly, _And besides, what does _he_ know? _He_ can just slip his blindfold off when he gets sick of darkness. _I _can't do that. _My_ blindfold is permanent. I'll never see another sunrise, never laugh at a shadow pattern, never decorate my room with bright pictures to cheer myself up… and it's forever! How can Sasuke or _anyone _know what it's like?! They don't know _anything_!!_

I punched the floor again, harder, feeling it give slightly. _Great. And now I have a fist-sized hole in my floor to worry about tripping over. That's just brilliant._

I was jolted out of my brooding by a loud pounding on the door.

"Naruto! Open up! Let me in! Are you okay? You'd better not be sulking in there!"

I gritted my teeth. _Sasuke_.

"I'm not going away until you let me in! I'm gonna break down the door! Let me in! Now!"

The pounding stopped, and I knew I had about half a second before the door went flying off its hinges.

"God, Sasuke! It's open!"

"Oh."

I heard Sasuke open the door and come in, settling down on the floor in front of me. His hand brushed over the new fist-hole addition to my living room, fingers catching faintly on splinters, and then reached up to touch my right cheek.

"You say you're okay again and I'll hit you," he promised, and I realised for the first time my cheeks were wet with tears.

"Oh… that…"

"Naruto, what's up?"

I hesitated, then replied, "My head hurts." It really did.

Sasuke sighed. "Right. Want a Panadol?" **(1)**

"Yeah…"

Sasuke stood up and walked into my kitchen, quickly finding the drug, before coming back out. "Naruto, _why_ is there a kunai embedded in your counter?"

"Because."

"Ah. Here, swallow these, then get up. We're going places."

I gulped the pills down swiftly. "Places?"

"Hn." Sasuke grabbed my shoulder and hauled me to my feet. "Come on. Sitting here punching the floor isn't going to solve anything."

"It might!" I protested.

"What, like the floor collapses and you _die?_" I was silent, and he sighed. "Come on, Naruto, you're not getting out of it that easy." He tugged me down the stairs and out into the street, where the daily mumble of human life was beginning to die down, waiting for the nightlife to emerge.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Places."

"You don't know, do you?"

"Not a clue."

In the end, I think we went nearly everywhere. Sasuke dragged me across most of Konoha, insisting that there was more to life than sitting in my room making holes in the floor, training with our lazy sensei and doing missions that sucked anyway. Despite myself, despite the fury and desperation, I found my spirits lifting the longer I wandered around the village. Just hearing Sasuke's low voice was enough to calm me down as we walked on.

I listened to the sounds of people laughing, the clinking of coins and chirping of insects. Children scrambling and playing in the dirt. Drunken ninja singing something horribly offkey and somewhat disgusting in a nearby bar. Sasuke insisting that we go to the stalls that sold ink, because he knew I was nearly out after making seals for a week and a half.

I smiled softly. Okay, so the world was crazy and life was unfair. What else was new?

We were passing the markets and I could smell fresh fruit when I abruptly remembered a promise I had made to myself earlier. "Oh! Sasuke, wait here!"

"Wha?" he said, but I was already heading away, and he had no choice but to stand, confused, on the pavement, waiting the five minutes it took me to get what I wanted.

"Here," I said, holding my hand out to him. "For distracting Sakura while I ditched Team whatever-they-were."

Sasuke grinned and took the tomato.

_**

* * *

**__ Sandaime Hokage_

Attention:

_**Training Report:**__ Blindfold mission_

_**Jounin Instructor:**__ Hatake Kakashi_

_**Team:**__ Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto_

_**Statement:**__ Team passed._

_**Notes:**__ Sasuke trusted Naruto to guide him, even though both were blindfolded, and Naruto showed extreme aptitude in this test, read: EXTREME. He may as well have not been blindfolded at all. He also taught the rest of his team how to operate blind._

_Sasuke and Naruto work well in a tandem and in defining plans; they bicker a lot, but it seems more playful than aggressive._

_Naruto took control of the team effectively, and Sasuke let him take control, even suggested it; stated that "you know this village a lot better than I do and can actually walk it blindfolded"; has Naruto done this before?_

_Naruto has extensive knowledge of other genin teams and can read engravings with only his fingers; this skill was shown when they got lost and he read a signpost while being held aloft by Sasuke._

_Naruto seems unable to comprehend that lightning is not made up of 'light' and 'ning', although this may just be a private joke; I can't tell._

_Naruto can and does make explosive tags, and is working on developing shock tags, but can't get them to work yet; he has managed to create 'flash tags' that only give off light and is trying to work out how to make them into shock tags (hence the light plus ning argument). I would advise that whoever is selling him explosive materials should STOP IT NOW._

_Naruto can throw accurately even though blindfolded. Has he been practising throwing explosive things while blind, because if he has, it should be stopped as soon as possible before he hurts someone, probably himself._

_Even though Sasuke was obviously dependant on Naruto for this exercise, Naruto still seems to depend on Sasuke; this dependence could potentially be crippling if they are separated. Should they be given individual missions to test this?_

_Sakura performed as expected._

_I would like to request something of a challenge for these three, as they are doing very well and I would like to see how they react in a real situation; something more of a challenge._

_Signed,_

_Hatake Kakashi_

_**

* * *

**__ Hatake Kakashi_

Attention:

_Your request regarding the 'challenge' for your students has been noted and granted; they will have access to the next available C-rank mission. Report to the missions desk for more information._

_Signed,_

_Sandaime Hokage_

_Sarutobi_

**

* * *

**

Notes:

**(1)** For those who don't know, Panadol is a painkiller. It's an Australian thing, which is why some of you may not have heard of it. Basically it's aspirin, Panadeine, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, or whatever pill painkiller isn't prescription-required in your country. There are a lot of varieties even here – Panadol is the one with the least side effects, but it's not as strong as Panadeine, which can make people sensitive to some of the medicine really sick.

* * *

Japanese Translations:

**Kekkei Genkai:** This is literally a 'bloodline limit', a special ability of some type that is passed down from person to person in a family line, created by particular combinations of genes. Kekkei genkai are prized in Konoha, but hated in other villages such as Kiri. Kekkei genkai are set apart from other special talents and abilities by the fact that the Sharingan – the bloodline limit of the Uchiha Clan – cannot copy the ability, because the necessary genetics to make it work are missing.

Kekkei Genkai:

**Byakugan:** The all-seeing eye of the Hyuuga Clan. This is a doujutsu, and gives the user a version of 'x-ray vision' that has sparked many fan-based 'pervert' jokes. The user can see through walls and a person's skin to see their chakra coils and tenketsu, and it is on this ability that the Hyuuga Clan taijutsu style Jyuuken is built.

Concepts:

**Scrolls:** The ninja of Konoha seem to use both scrolls and proper books. Scrolls are usually for hand-written stuff like reports and jutsu notes and the like – basically, scrolls seem to be their version of loose paper. You gotta hand it to 'em, it's way less messy.

* * *

A/N: Well, that was fun. Kakashi seems to enjoy messing with his students, doesn't he? And, by the way, this is totally viable – take away an advantage of your students to teach them how to work without it. It's like taking away their shoes and then making them run through the Forest of Death. Educational, but funny, in that sadistic-teacher way that we all know and hate.


	5. C Rank

**Five: C-Rank**

"Where the crap is our sensei?" Sasuke groaned, exasperation loosening his iron trap of a mouth.

We had all but given up on our sensei ever being on time, but today Sasuke was more unnerved than usual because we weren't meeting in the usual spot. I was sitting with my back to the KIA memorial with Sasuke pacing in front of me. Sakura was standing up against a tree, probably imagining the best ways to kill our sensei, from the tiny waves of killer intent she was learning to send out. I shuddered. Women are scary.

"I'm gonna go look for him," Sasuke decided abruptly. "Naruto, stay put. Here's your sketchbook; don't do anything stupid, and _don't move._" His voice was quiet; I doubted Sakura had heard him.

"Ah, come on Sasuke, I'm not three years old," I complained, softly. "I _can _find my way around, y'know." _It's not like I'm _blind _or anything…_

"Yeah, whatever." He left, and Sakura followed him like the pining puppy-dog she was, leaving me on my own. I stared blankly after them for a second, wondering if I should be offended, then shrugged and flipped my sketchbook open, tugging the pencil out of the spiral binding.

Yeah, just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't draw. Actually, I'm pretty damn good, according to Sasuke, but I think he's biased. I can roughly draw any face I can run my hands over, and pretty much anything else I can touch – like Mizuki's demon shuriken. And anything else that happens to pop into my head. I chewed on the end of my pencil for several seconds, letting my mind drift as I flipped through the book until I found a blank page, and then set the pencil down, starting to scribble almost straight away.

In a few flicks I had started, drawing in the curve of a face I vaguely remembered from somewhere. I wasn't sure where; I didn't think, I just drew it. I only managed to finish the outline before I remembered another face and immediately sketched it beside the first, then going back to the eyes of the first one.

It's not as hard as you'd think to draw blind, especially if you're me; my fingers are sensitive enough to tell where the pencil marks are on the paper. The pencil changes how the paper felt, raising the paper's texture slightly and making it feel slightly slippery. I'd just totally finished both of the first heads when a third one started out before I even realised what I was doing, and I pulled my pencil off the paper with a sigh. I'd been sitting here for at least half an hour, and now I was bored.

I turned around a little, reaching back with one hand and reading out the first name that my fingers touched. "Uchiha Obito," I mused. _Hm, one of Sasuke's relatives? _"Who were you? Did you have a family, friends, people you left behind when you died? Do people mourn you? Does anyone still miss you?" _Did Sasuke know you?_

I put my pencil back to the paper and slowly drew in jerky spikes of hair, shading them in carefully. "How did you die? Why did you die? Was it stupid, pointless? Or did it mean something? To you, or anyone else?"

I'm not sure why, but all three of the faces I'd just drawn were smiling. I smiled too. It was nice when my drawings smiled at me – the sad ones were creepy and the angry ones made me feel guilty, like it was my fault they were angry. "Was it worth it?" I asked the name on the memorial stone, running my fingers over the sketches.

"Huh – oh, hey Kakashi-sensei," I said, having just noticed the man flickering in to stand over me. I drew in a pair of – were those things _goggles? _I frowned. My imagination scares me sometimes. This face's eyes were cheerful, bright, and all round hard to draw, but I think I managed it. I think. The goggles were shoved up to the top of his head, half over his forehead protector – hey, all three of these guys had forehead protectors. All Konohan, too.

"Hey, Naruto," my sensei said, sounding faintly strangled.

"Oh, did Sasuke and Sakura find you? They sounded pretty mad when they left – no, that's not right…" I erased the smirk my hand had been trying to draw and replaced it with a proper grin. "That's better. Stupid drawings."

"May I see?" he asked, and I shrugged and handed the book over. He seemed kind of stiff today – did he have arthritis or something? Or was he just excited over something?

"I like these ones," I told him, tapping the page. "They're all smiling, and that makes me happy. The bored ones make _me _bored and the smirky ones put me on edge. It's weird, I never know how they're going to turn out until I've already drawn them. It's like their faces just appear in my head and then I have to draw them like that and I can't change them, they have to be drawn like that."

I was babbling, hoping he would say something. Seriously, he was almost as bad as Sasuke, and it was making me nervous. Eventually, after several minutes of staring at the sketchbook and me chattering randomly, he asked me, "Where did you see these people?"

I shrugged again, relieved to have been cut off. "I didn't. They just appeared in my head so I drew 'em while I was waiting for Sasuke to find you."

"So you were sitting here drawing for the last hour?"

"Oh, drawing and talking to dead people," I said easily.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Uchiha Obito is really chatty."

Kakashi dropped the sketchbook.

"Ah, man, did I get them wrong again?" I complained. "Sasuke said the last set looked like disfigured mutants. I was _trying _not to do that this time! D'you want to see the last lot? Man, they were _nasty._"

"No thankyou," Kakashi-sensei managed.

"Sensei, are you okay? You sound kinda weird."

There was a long pause in which I became anxious that I'd done something wrong, dropping my shoulders and blinking apprehensively. "I'm fine," Kakashi eventually said, "but we'd better go find your teammates."

"Oh, they're over there," I said, pointing vaguely northish with my pencil as I picked up the book and flipped it shut. "I think they're lost… no, wait. Sakura thinks she's lost, and Sasuke's just coming back here. 'Bout time, teme!" I yelled the last sentence at the top of my lungs, and he shouted back, "Shut up, dobe! Kakashi-sensei is extremely hard to find!"

"Suuure. I managed it, and I'm not even allowed to move. I guess I'm just the world's greatest ninja!" Laughter tickled at my throat; he was so easy to tease.

"Oh shut up, dobe," Sasuke grumbled as he fought his way out of a bush.

I chuckled under my breath and bounced back to my feet. Whatever we were doing today couldn't be any worse than the park mission we did yesterday. How can I pick up litter if I can't even see where I'm going? Unless I tripped over it… which happened more often than I'd like to admit. Sasuke made me hold the bag, and the rubbish smelt _really weird._

"Hi, kids, you'll never guess what sort of _fun _we'll have today!" Well, Kakashi seemed to have recovered from whatever it was.

"It's incredible, how he makes the word 'fun' sound like a death threat," Sasuke commented quietly, coming up to stand beside me.

"To the missions desk!" our sensei announced, making Sakura mutter under her breath as she came up behind us, "How _old _is he?"

I just shrugged and followed our weird teacher. So, was it Tora-the-runaway-cat or the evil-triplets-of-doom today? Maybe the I-forgot-to-weed-the-garden-for-six-years-and-now-the-plants-try-to-maim-kill-and-eat-anyone-they-can-reach mission? Man, was _that _one annoying. Thorns? What thorns? I don't see any thorns! Ow!

I blinked as we walked into a room, the air abruptly becoming slightly stuffy and charged with the smell of sweat and bored people. Ah, the mission desk. Mental note: avoid this job at all costs. It must be boring as hell. Not to mention dangerous, when you were handing the entire ninja population missions that, as a rule, they didn't want to do.

Maybe it would be the paint-a-fence mission this time. I hoped not – I was tired of having to get drenched in turpentine because I always got covered in paint. Whose idea was it to make the stupid paints non-water-soluble? Screw the rain!

"Oh, Kakashi," said the chuunin at the desk – I thought I recognised him vaguely as someone called Kotetsu. Maybe. Or was it Izumo…? Why did I know this guy's name? "You've got a mission order from the Hokage. A C-rank. Nice going – who'd you have to kill to get a C-rank?" He sounded bored out of his mind.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you, too," Kakashi-sensei said glibly, the parchment of the scroll rustling as he picked it up. "Well, well, well, guys, looks like we get a C-rank mission."

"Finally!" Sakura exclaimed. "All those chores were so tiring, and we never even got to leave the village!"

I just blinked. Oh great. More stuff for me to trip over. Sasuke brushed the back of my hand and whispered, "We'll be fine."

The parchment crackled as Kakashi unrolled our mission, apparently reading it over, as he didn't say anything aloud. Then he handed it to Sasuke, who handed it to me straight away and read it over my shoulder while I brushed my fingers over the kanji and hiragana, carefully reading the smooth tracks of ink.

_Mission Rank: C_  
_Mission Type: Escort Mission_  
_Client: Tazuna_  
_Mission Description: Protect Tazuna on the way back to his home, the Land of Waves, and then for as long as it takes for him to complete the bridge he is building._

I ran my fingers over the paper again, double-checking I hadn't missed anything, before handing the scroll back to our teacher – Sakura had been reading it from near Sasuke's elbow. "Not a whole lot to go on," Sasuke muttered under his breath into my ear, and I shrugged slightly.

"Not meant to. It's just a C-rank, not an A."

"Hey, why do you do that thing with your fingers?" Sakura asked as Kakashi tucked the scroll into his pouch. "Running them over the paper like that?"

"Ah, so I don't lose my place!" I said quickly. "Ahaha, I have trouble reading in a straight line." I laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head with one hand.

Sakura snorted. "You are such an idiot."

"Send in the client," Kotetsu/Izumo said to someone, and I heard the door begin to slide open, glancing at it automatically.

My eyes widened and my shoulders dropped at the overpowering smell of sake, and I took a half-step back, trying to hide behind Sasuke. He touched my shoulder questioningly and I choked out, "Smell… of alcohol… strong enough… to kill… small insects!"

I pinned my nose closed and instead listened to staggering footsteps that paused as soon as they entered the door. "What, so I'm being guarded by a bunch of snot-nosed brats?" came the harsh voice that I assumed belonging to our client, followed by a sharp increase in the smell of alcohol. Great, a drunk. "And you can't tell me the short one with the idiotic look on his face is a ninja!"

I sighed irritably. I knew I was the shortest, and I hadn't seen my own face in years, so for all I knew I _did _look stupid. "In the shinobi world you shouldn't judge by looks alone," I growled. "Don't dismiss us until you've seen us in action."

I heard Kakashi breathe a faint sigh of relief – no doubt glad I hadn't attacked the client. The bridge builder just snorted, unimpressed, although I could sense the chuunin, Izumo, _or was it Kotetsu, _mentally raising an eyebrow. I sighed again, a little more quietly, and asked Kakashi-sensei, "When are we leaving, and how long is this mission going to take?"

"Hmm…" Kakashi drawled. "This mission should take us about a week, so make sure you take enough supplies. We'll leave from the main gate of Konoha at… say… midday today. Don't be late!"

Then he vanished.

I snorted. "Now taking bets on how many hours late Kakashi-sensei will be."

"I'm not getting there 'til one," Sasuke commented dryly.

_

* * *

_

Kakashi's Log

_Team was given C-rank mission; they weren't as excited as I thought they might be. Naruto seemed more nervous, and he's been somewhat subdued for the last couple of days. Sasuke appeared worried, and overall Sakura seemed the most pleased._

_When reading the scroll, Naruto ran his fingers over the parchment. When questioned he said that he had 'trouble reading in a straight line', but I have a feeling he's covering for something else._

_Earlier in the day I found Naruto waiting at the memorial; he was drawing in his sketchbook. It was a sketch of three faces – perfect copies of Sensei, Rin and Obito. When I asked him where he saw them, he didn't know._

* * *

Midday came and went. One o'clock came and went. Sasuke came but had to stay. He _wanted _to go, but sadly, we were stuck waiting for our lazy-ass sensei. He was really bored, but I had two new sketchbooks and my old one, too, so I made him sit still for a few minutes while I drew him.

Two o'clock came and went.

When Kakashi finally showed up, Tazuna trailing behind him, I sensed him falter slightly when we came within eyeshot, and I glanced up at him, wondering if something was happening that I wasn't aware of. Sakura was leaning against the village wall, probably dead bored, and Sasuke was sitting cross-legged, one hand holding his head from drooping. I only knew that because I had decided to do a full sketch instead of just his face and checked his whole posture when Sakura wasn't looking.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" I said cheerfully, waving my pencil in the air. "It's about time you got here!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura shouted, and I rolled my eyes and removed the pencil from my ear.

"Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all, "but a black cat crossed my path, so I had to go the long way to avoid the bad luck."

"Are you a mouse, Kakashi-sensei?" I asked interestedly, and _that _gave the lazy bastard pause.

"Pardon, Naruto?"

"Are you a mouse?" I repeated. "It's only bad luck when you see a black cat if you're a mouse."

"Or if the cat's a panther," Sasuke pointed out.

"What's a panther, again?" I asked, frowning.

"You truly is idiot (1). Big black cat. Likes eating humans or _lazy jounin instructors!_" the Uchiha said, growling the last part at Kakashi.

Kakashi just laughed at us, but he seemed slightly off-balance. Us retorting back like that instead of just Sakura shouting was a little out of the ordinary. I half-smiled and accepted Sasuke's hand up, dusting off my knees and tucking the sketchbook into an easily accessible pocket of my backpack.

"Can we _go, _already?" the Uchiha sighed.

The second we stepped out of the village, I felt a faint shiver run up my spine. I had never been out here before, not once. Every step was new, and every step I waited to stumble, to slip, to find something under my feet that I couldn't see. I was shivering faintly, and the pounding of my heart was starting to drown out the footsteps of my comrades.

Sasuke's hand gently brushed my arm and I started slightly, before relaxing. "Just focus on me," he said quietly. "We can do this, Naruto. It'll be ok."

I took a deep breath, forcing my heart rate to calm down, and focused on Sasuke's light footsteps, the soft brushing of the cloth of his shorts, and his hand running across tree bark at random intervals; we were walking on the edge of the trail, I realised.

I fixed every step in my memory, every little dip in the road and the way the small stones under my feet shuttled underneath my ninja sandals, where every tree was as Sasuke brushed past. I was still shaking a little, though, a fact that our obnoxious client (who _still _stank of sake; _seriously, dude, there's a new invention called soap, have you heard of it?_) was quick to pick up on. "How can I be sure these brats will protect me?" he complained loudly. "The short one's already shaking in terror, and we've only just left the village!"

I jerked up my head to glare in his direction, and I sensed Sasuke doing the same thing. "It's my first time outside of the village, okay?" I growled, feeling defensive. "I'm just a little nervous. I've never been out here before." I scuffed the ground with one foot, a little self-conscious.

"But what about the Academy exercises where we left the village to practise?" Sakura asked, sounding confused. I sighed, and Sasuke twitched slightly as well.

"Sakura, those need permission forms. I was never allowed to go on them, and even the small-scale ones that stayed inside the village were hard to get permission for." I shifted agilely around a pothole that Sasuke indicated with a foot tap, focusing intently on his footsteps.

"But why couldn't you just get your parents to sign them?" She actually sounded confused. Ah, the joys of living a charmed life. I smiled bitterly, wondering what my life could've been like if I hadn't been orphaned at birth and given a heavy burden before I could even walk, let alone understand.

It was Sasuke who answered her. "Naruto doesn't have any parents, Sakura. They died a long time ago. He's an orphan like me."

"Oh…" Sakura seemed to have realised she'd hit on a sore spot, and for about ten minutes, we were able to walk in silence. I just focused on feet I couldn't see, just putting one foot in front of the other, hearing grit and dust shifting underneath our shoes as we walked.

I blinked as Sakura's voice started up again. "Excuse me, Tazuna-san? (2) You said you come from the Land of Waves?"

"That is correct. What of it?"

"Well… doesn't the Land of Waves have its own ninja village? Why do they need us?"

"Actually, Sakura, the Land of Waves is a small island," Kakashi-sensei explained. "Ninja are military strength, and with the natural protection of the ocean, they generally have no need for them. When they and other small countries like them need ninja, they usually hire from the nearest Great Shinobi Nation."

"Huh… so, Konoha is one of those, right?"

"Correct," Kakashi said agreeably. "Konoha, of the Land of Fire; Suna, of the Land of Wind; Kumo, of the Land of Lightning; Kiri, of the Land of Water; and Iwa, of the Land of Earth, are the Five Great Shinobi Nations. There are other Hidden Villages as well, but those are the five best known."

"What are some of the others?" Sakura continued to pursue the subject, and I restricted a sigh. What a know-it-all.

"There's Kusa, to the north-west of us," I found myself saying, still 'looking' at the backs of Sasuke's feet, "and Taki, straight north. There's Bird Country to the west, although I don't know if their village is still in action or not. Ame is to the west as well, but not as far as Bird, and there's supposed to be a Yukigakure in the far, far north in the Land of Snow, but my map might be out of date – that place has been kinda in a civil war for the last few years. Dunno what's happening there."

I sensed everyone turning to look at me, even Sasuke. "…What?" I growled. "I might be an idiot, but I do like to know what's going on around me!"

"It's nothing, Naruto," Kakashi said as he turned back around. "I simply wasn't aware you knew that much on our surrounding countries."

I shrugged and kept walking. "I like maps," I muttered. Then I continued, barely aware I was still speaking, "Wave is too small a country to either need or support a ninja village. It would have to band together with most of its surrounding islands to manage it, like the Water Country did at one stage."

"That is correct," Kakashi-sensei agreed. "So whenever Wave needs missions done, they go to a nearby village. Aside from that, and in general day-to-day working, they do without."

"So if there are other ninja villages out there, does that mean we could end up fighting other ninja, from a different country?" the girl asked.

Kakashi chuckled lightly. "No, Sakura; at least, not on a C-rank. On a B-rank or A-rank, absolutely, but on a simple C-rank like this one, we don't have to worry about anything more than bandits and thugs, petty thieves. We won't be encountering anyone with ninja training on this mission."

My nose twitched as I caught a familiar scent – fear, tinged vaguely with guilt. I tugged lightly on the back of Sasuke's shirt, whispering, "Something smells funny," and let my sightless eyes slide towards the bridge builder momentarily. _This guy's hiding something – he doesn't smell right._

Sasuke tensed the muscles nearest my hand in reply and muttered, "Civilians." _Translation:_ _Civilians just don't know how to hide their secrets._

Evidently, he was getting visual signals that agreed with my sense of smell. I tugged again, silently asking what we should do, and he shrugged, making the cloth pull at my hand, then tapped my fingers lightly. _Translation: Ignore it for now, but don't forget about it. We may find something later that'll make more sense._

I shrugged myself and let go of his shirt, content to walk on in silence – or as close to silence as we could get; our sensei was humming something absently under his breath. I would have been curious, but considering his choice of reading material, I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

We were maybe an hour out of Konoha (man, was I _sick _of Kakashi-sensei's humming by then) when I stumbled slightly, my left foot landing in a puddle. "Ack!" I yelped, then glared at Sasuke.

He chuckled, and I scowled, kicking the water in his direction, and it was his turn to yelp. "Naruto, that's cold! And wet! And… and _muddy!_"

I hooted with laughter, incredibly amused by his response. "You really are a genius, teme, you worked out that puddles are wet, cold and muddy!" I splashed him again and frowned a little, asking, "Feel that?" and this time, I wasn't talking about the temperature. _Can you sense the chakra? Chakra in water… what could it mean?_

"Narutoooo! How could I _not?_" Sasuke yowled, skipping away, but he landed ready for combat, a tapping in his feet letting me know his recognition. _Yes, I sense it._

"What, can't handle a little water?" I teased as I leaped out of the puddle of chakra and trotted back towards the group, Kakashi-sensei ending up behind me, my heart beginning to race. _Are you ready for this?_

"Che! As if, dobe! I can handle it fine!" Sasuke scoffed. _Bring it on._

I felt the flare of chakra and started turning almost straight away, hearing at least two bodies springing into the air into attack stances; Kakashi-sensei suddenly yelped, and there was a horrible sound of something being shredded through sheer force, and a quick flicker of chakra that felt like a kawarimi. Sakura screamed, and Sasuke flinched. I frowned, barely hearing one of the two foe's whispers of "One down," and computing it to mean Kakashi-sensei was out of action.

Then they were moving again, two vague flickers on the edge of my consciousness outlined by blurs of chakra and sound – a weapon, was it wire, no, too bulky for that, whistling between them – and I drew two kunai, my heart pounding and adrenaline rushing as I frantically tried to track the pair. My ears were too slow – they were so _fast _– I flinched back from the clanking of – was that _chain – _and held my weapons in the only plausible block. I couldn't see the weapon – I couldn't see its target – all I could do was hope.

Then there was a clash and a cracking _shink,_ and I heard a shuriken bury itself into a nearby tree, closely followed by a kunai, and as the clank of metal on metal followed, plus an abrupt halting to the two shadows' movements, my mind raced to catch up. _Wire – chain – tied together – wrap – razor sharp – pinned – kunai – Sasuke – two – Kakashi – chain – two – linked –_

There was a snap as the chain was unhooked from our adversaries, and I let out a yelp and dodged a blow I had only just sensed in time, feeling metal blades tug briefly at my hair before cutting straight through the strands. I sprang back, trying to block the oncoming blow with my kunai, getting a scratch on the back of my hand for the attempt, and as the pain jolted me my concentration dropped. Suddenly, all I could hear was my heartbeat, blood rushing past my ears, adrenaline pounding, my breath impossibly loud and harsh. I could feel my heartbeat in every inch of skin, pulsing with fear and excitement, and was completely lost in an instant.

I couldn't hear Sasuke – I couldn't hear Kakashi – I couldn't hear my opponent's swing – everything was gone, I was trapped in a dark void, there was nothing here, I was trapped, there was _nothing –_

I wheezed as a foot – _a foot a fist a knife pressure nothing everything pain force_ – I hadn't known was coming slammed me just below the ribcage, forcing all of the air out of my lungs and sending me flying. My back connected with the rough bark of a tree and the sheer force snapped my head back, cracking it against the trunk with a painful smack. I couldn't do anything more than let my body crumple forwards, barely dragging a knee up in time to stop me doing a faceplant into the dirt, and as I vaguely sensed my opponent rushing me, I waited until the last second, before letting myself collapse sideways in a desperate attempt to dodge him.

Crumpled in the dust, I barely comprehended Kakashi-sensei throwing his already-captive foe at mine, knocking them both over, and then grabbing the pair of them. The danger over, Sasuke was at my side in an instant, gently brushing his fingers across my arms and face, asking near-frantically, "Naruto, are you okay? You didn't get knocked out, did you – or were you cut? Are you okay, come _on, _speak to me!"

"'M'ok," I mumbled weakly, "but my head is _killing _me. Wha…" I didn't need to expand on the blurry half-question, as my best friend whispered rapidly, so that no one but me could hear him, "Two attackers, ripped Kakashi-sensei apart with a chain weapon at the start, then headed for you; you were trying to block them but you were positioned wrong; I pinned the chain to a tree, the two of them undid it and while one attacked you the other went straight for the client; Sakura and I distracted him, then Kakashi turned up again – I think he used a kawarimi – and grabbed him, bowled your guy over with him, and now he's interrogating them."

I nodded, then put up my hand, letting Sasuke pull me to my feet. "So, the Demon Brothers á la Mist, huh?" our sensei said, and I turned my head towards his voice instinctively. "Why would you two lowlife chuunin be attacking a genin team, hm? Surely you're not stupid enough to pick a fight with a jounin?"

Sasuke and I walked over, stopping a healthy distance from our sensei and his captives. "Ah, Naruto, I'm sorry for not intervening sooner. I didn't mean for you to get hurt, but I wasn't expecting you to freeze up like that."

"Ouch," I said sarcastically, even though that had actually stung. My head was rapidly clearing as I healed up, and thinking was no longer a painful chore. "This is my first actual combat, sensei; gimme a break."

"What about our bell test?" the jounin reminded me, prodding at one of the two Demon Brothers.

"That doesn't count," Sasuke piped up, unexpectedly in Kakashi's slight twitch of the foot, scraping the ground.

"Yeah," I agreed firmly. "You wouldn't actually try to kill us – no matter what you say, Kakashi-sensei, you're too lazy, and I'll bet there's too much paperwork involved."

I derived no small amount of sadistic pleasure in the unmistakable shudder that elicited, and Sasuke's fingers touched my bicep lightly, letting me know that he was amused as well.

"Naruto, you're bleeding!" Sakura yelped slightly.

"Huh? Well fancy that." I touched my fingers to the gash on the back of my hand. "I'm bleeding. How odd." Note the sarcasm.

"Naruto, you are aware that these chuunin like to coat their weapons in poisons?" Kakashi-sensei told me. "We're going to have to get that treated, and soon."

"Che," I grumbled. "All this fuss over one cut." I considered briefly, then sighed and slashed it open with the kunai I still had in my palm, rolling my eyes at the girl's and the civilian's yelps. It didn't hurt that much – it had missed all the major nerve clusters. "There, it can bleed out now. Can we get a move on?" Sasuke silently passed me a bandage.

"In a minute, in a minute," Kakashi said, sounding very much like a parent attempting to shoo off their children so they could do something useful for a change.

One of his two captives was now speaking, and I listened vaguely while wrapping gauze around my hand. Seriously, it wasn't that bad! Fuzzball would deal with it in about ten minutes flat. I probably wouldn't even _notice _the poison. "How did you read our movements?"

Kakashi-sensei snorted. "Please. In a dry area, where it hasn't rained for weeks, there isn't going to be a puddle. Naruto _stepped _in it – it's not like it was difficult to notice."

I grinned sheepishly. "They were hiding in the puddle, I think," Sasuke breathed into my ear. "Explains the chakra saturation." I nodded slightly.

"If you knew they were there, then why let yourself get 'killed' and let the brats fight?" Tazuna groused.

"I wanted to know if they had finally gone off the deep end and attacked Konoha ninja, or if they were after you," Kakashi-sensei explained, his voice all too cheerful. "Which, Tazuna-san, they were. One of them went straight for you, and so did the other, although he had to get through Naruto first. But, it stands to obvious reason that you were their target. And we didn't know that there were shinobi after you."

Sasuke nodded, his knuckles brushing my shoulder to let me know he was agreeing. "This mission just went up in difficulty; it's a B-rank assignment. We're operating outside our mission parameters," Kakashi said flatly. "We should go back to Konoha – we were only hired to protect you from thieves, not ninja." I tugged on Sasuke's shirt again.

"What the crap does 'parameters' mean?"

"I'll explain in a minute," he growled, sounding irritated; only I heard the amused exasperation in his voice. Of _course _I wouldn't know what that word meant.

"We should head back," Sakura agreed quickly. "We're not ready for a mission like this, and Naruto's already hurt! We should go back!"

I scowled. "It's not that bad, dammit! And we've already started the mission! We've already said we'll do this! I'm not about to back out now! What kind of ninja would we be if we quit at the first sign of trouble?"

Sasuke let that vaguely ominous question hang over their heads for a few seconds before saying, "He has a point. We handled ourselves well enough against the chuunin, and no one was badly hurt. And even if things get bad, Kakashi's a jounin. He can handle whatever we genin can't."

There was a pause of several seconds, Kakashi apparently absorbing our words, before Tazuna spoke up again, filling the air with sake-saturated breath. I covered my nose. "I have a confession to make about the mission. It's most likely, yes, rated above a C-rank mission. As it turns out, there's a pretty dangerous guy after my head, and I guess he decided that sending ninja after me was the best course of action."

I tugged lightly on Sasuke's shirt: _Why would they bother sending ninja after this guy? Sure, he's a grouchy old coot, but that's no reason to kill him._

Sasuke tugged back, sharply: _Just listen; they're still talking._

"Who is this 'dangerous guy' who's after you?" Kakashi asked, getting to the point in his usual blunt way.

Tazuna paused, hesitating, the fear-smell rising and mingling with the sake, before he sighed. "You've probably heard of him before. The wealthy shipping magnate… a man named Gatou."

"What? Gatou is after you?" Kakashi asked, sounding shocked. I frowned; his name had come up a lot in some of my research ventures into the ANBU vaults. What was that file on again… "From the Gatou Company? He's said be among the world's most wealthy people!"

"I think he's third from the top," I said aloud, then flinched as they all turned to me. I really needed to watch my mouth.

"Something like that." Tazuna sounded slightly impatient, but at the same time, very tired. "Officially, he runs a large shipping company, a very successful company, too. But secretly he sells drugs and other illegal items, using ninja, thugs and gang members to take over businesses, drug rings and even small countries. He is a very nasty man…"

The old man shook his head slightly, dirty-sounding hair flopping against his face. "About a year ago he set his sights on the Land of Waves. Through money and violence he quickly took control of our shipping industry, and Gatou now has a complete monopoly on all the business traffic in the country. The bridge I'm building is seen as threatening to this man, as it would undermine his control, so he wants to get rid of me before it's finished. This bridge is our only hope, the last light on our horizon. If I die, that light goes out, and Wave's hope is lost forever."

"So those Kiri missing-nin, they were hired by Gatou?" Sasuke asked. _Kiri? I didn't know these guys were from Mist… I mean, I guessed they were, but I wasn't sure… Thank you, Sasuke, that could have been embarrassing._

Tazuna didn't answer him, but Kakashi spoke out instead, and I turned my head in his direction as he said, "What I don't understand is… if you knew ninja would be after you… why did you hide that fact when you hired us?"

Hm, good question.

"Thanks to Gatou and his shipping company, Wave is incredibly poor. Even our feudal lord has basically no money – we've got nothing but dirt left. We were barely able to scrape together enough for a C-rank mission, let alone a more expensive B-rank.

"Well," the old man continued. "I guess it was wrong to lie to you, so you have every right to turn back. If you quit the mission now… I will be definitely killed, but… don't worry about it!" he grinned. "If I die my cute ten year old grandson will just cry for a few days, nothing too bad… Oh yeah, and my daughter will live a sad life hating the Leaf village forever… But it won't be your fault. No, not at all!"

I rolled my eyes, and Sasuke stifled a snort. But Kakashi seemed to have slumped at the sound of Tazuna's speech. "Well," the jounin murmured, "I guess we have no choice. We'll protect you at least until we get back to your country…"

"It figures you'd be a sucker for sob stories, Kakashi-sensei," I sighed. _This just got a whole lot more difficult, didn't it?_

_

* * *

_

Kakashi's Log

_I had a feeling this wasn't going to be as easy as we first thought._

_Turns out the bridge builder, Tazuna, lied to us about the mission difficulty. His country has been taken over by Gatou of Gatou Shipping, and his bridge is threatening to break his control. Obviously, the man doesn't want that, so we've got ninja attacking us now._

_First encounter was with two Mist chuunin – the Demon Brothers, Mizu and Gozu, I believe their names are._

_It was Naruto who first noticed the puddle they were using as a genjutsu cover, although I'm not certain if he actually sensed it or was just playing around… neither he nor Sasuke seemed surprised when they got attacked a few seconds later, though._

_The genin handled themselves fairly well in the ensuing fight, although Naruto froze up a little and managed to score himself a cut or two, and a possible mild concussion; Sasuke defended him fairly well against the pair of Kiri nin, and no one was badly injured. The nins' target was, obviously, our client, but he was unharmed in the skirmish; Naruto was the only one who was hurt at all._

_In spite of the obvious trouble this would be, both of the boys refused to turn back when told the mission was out of their expertise, even Naruto, who had been acting incredibly nervy since the start of the mission. Note: has he really never been out of the village before?_

_In a discussion on the ninja villages, Naruto had moderately detailed – for his level – knowledge on the nearby Hidden Villages, and also of their current states; he even knew about Yuki, but was unsure of their status due to civil war. Second note: it should probably be investigated how he knows this. He has been showing startling knowledge on various subjects all month, and it's starting to creep me out._

_Third note: Naruto sketches a lot. He was sketching again when I joined the team at the gates, although I didn't see what he was drawing._

_This is going to be a pain, isn't it?_

* * *

A/N: Sheer dumb luck. Naruto's full of it.

(1) Yes, that grammar is incorrect; however, it's there for a reason. Sasuke is using it as an emphasis of how he thinks Naruto is being particularly idiotic, and is dumbing down his grammar accordingly.

(2) I know I should use the English version, but it's not flowing right. Deal with it. I use Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun, too, don't I?

Regarding the Demon Brothers of the Mist… I know the phrase I used was not the direct translation, but it strikes me as something Kakashi would say. Please don't review to inform me I got it wrong – things have already changed from the original timeline. I'm not going to follow the dialogue if I think I could improve it.

Oh, and the word 'magnate', which is not to be confused with a metal called manganate (as I did, when first reading this word in grade eight). It means tycoon or mogul, someone who has a large amount of control in a particular area. If you know what Zoo Tycoon is, you're on the right track.

Japanese Concepts:

**Village Titles**: I use both English (Mist) and Japanese (Kiri) for the names of the villages. They are interchangeable in my mind and will be treated as such in this story; the English and Japanese name of each village are indicated below.

Leaf/Leaves – Konoha  
Mist – Kiri  
Sand – Suna  
Stone/Rock – Iwa  
Cloud – Kumo  
Snow – Yuki  
Waterfall – Taki  
Sound – Oto  
Grass – Kusa  
Rain – Ame

To all of these names, add '-gakure' to get 'hidden in the…', such as Kirigakure, Hidden in the Mist, and '-gakure no sato' to get 'village hidden in the…' such as Konohagakure no Sato, Village Hidden in the Leaves. As I warned you previously, all names are interchangeable and will get used at some point. I apologise for any confusion, but some forms of the noun work better in places than others, and I like to keep my options open. If there is confusion, let me know, and I'll do my best to clarify.


	6. S Rank! WTF!

**Six: S-Rank? WTF?**

I was bored.

Bored, bored, bored. Damn, you didn't come much boreder than this. And boreder isn't even a word. But I was so bored I didn't care.

I shouldn't be bored, I realised, I should be terrified out of my wits, anxious, nervy, twitchy, anxious… I already said that one. But I was none of them. I was _bored. _There was seriously only so long I could keep going, focusing on Sasuke's feet, before my mind started to get sidetracked. And now, I was bored.

Have I mentioned that I was bored?

I could hear water lapping at the edges of rocks like an eager puppy out of the toilet, but it was still faint. We were a good way off yet. I sighed mentally, and tilted my head back, stretching my neck. To an observer I was staring at the sky, and I wondered wistfully what shade of blue the sky was today, what shapes the clouds moved in, how the trees moved in the breeze. All things I'd never appreciated when I could still see, and meant the world to me now that I couldn't.

My chest had started to ache again, and I let my gaze fall back to ground silently. What colour was the grass here? Green, the thick green of Konoha summers, yellow of dry dead things, or a colour I didn't know, hadn't understood when I was too young to understand?

The pressure on my chest was tightening painfully, and I took a harsh breath and forced my thoughts to blank out, refocusing to my ears instead of far-off memories and dusty corners of my imagination. The waves were louder now, rushing across sand and stones and dashing themselves to pieces against the rocks of the shore. I could smell the sharp tang of salt and the duller undertone of leather, muffled by human sweat and general presence. The sound of the ocean was almost deafening, coupled with creaking wood, wind gusting, the coarse squark of a seabird –

I froze.

The waves were rushing violently past my ears, their noise impossibly loud. I couldn't hear anything but the ocean as it thrashed, fighting its own currents and whipped into a frenzy by the rushing winds. Water exploding so close, tearing itself apart, filling my ears with sound and my mouth with salt and drowning my mind –

"Sasuke?" I raised my voice, the sound cracking slightly with anxiety as I realised I could hardly even hear my own voice. "Sasuke!"

A hand brushed my arm, but I didn't jerk with surprise, relaxing at the touch. I recognised Sasuke's skin. I turned my head in his direction and forced my mind to focus on his pattern, remembering his voice, his smell, everything about him that was ingrained into my memory.

"–ruto? Naruto, are you alright?" His voice swam into my consciousness and I relaxed further, relieved. I could hear him again. The sound of the ocean was fading, and the overwhelming salty smell had gone back to being a vague scent and taste at the edge of my mind. "Are you okay? Naruto, what's wrong?"

"Sorry," I managed to say quietly. "The ocean – it's so _loud_ – it overpowered me for a minute. Sasuke, I couldn't hear _anything, _it was like there was nothing there. I couldn't hear you or any of the others at all!"

"It's okay," he said quietly, calmly, and I relaxed even further, because even if it wasn't, Sasuke would _make _it alright. "Just stay close to me, and it'll be okay. Sorry; I should have realised how loud it was."

I blinked and shook my head. "No, it was my fault," I muttered. "I… got distracted…"

Sasuke rubbed my arm with his knuckles, then took hold of my wrist, gently tugging me back towards the others – I'd gotten a little turned around in my panic attack. "It's ok," he repeated. "It's ok."

Kakashi was no doubt giving me a funny look as Sasuke led me back to the group, but I didn't care. I was still shaking slightly, the lingering fear of the void tugging at the edges of my mind and threatening to pull me under again, and I flinched as Sasuke made to let go of my arm. He steadied his grip, catching the wince, and rubbed my skin with his thumb. "It's okay," he said again. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

I nodded unsteadily, trying to keep my breathing even and focusing on Sasuke's own breathing, and the faint pulse I could hear and feel through his hand. Still shivering slightly, I looked down at a path I couldn't see and gritted my teeth, refusing to make a sound and ignoring Sakura's questions.

Kakashi soon decided that I wasn't going to be helpful in answering some of his wtf-questions and simply started us walking again. I trotted tamely on Sasuke's heels, staying close enough that I could feel his body heat even though he hadn't let go of my hand yet, letting the familiarity slowly calm me down.

Then we got to the boat.

"OH HELL NO!"

Well, at least I wasn't bored anymore.

* * *

I let one hand trail through the icy cold water of the lake, water slapping against the side of the boat, sounding loud but still muffled by the fog Sasuke said was blurring out the whole area. Cold liquid skimmed my fingers, my other hand clinging nervously to Sasuke's sleeve as the boat slid almost-silently through the water.

I was still shivering slightly, but it was hidden in my outsized clothes, and only Sasuke knew how unnerved I still was. Not needing the visual signals other people did to tell moods or feelings, I tended not to make them unless I actually thought about it; hence, it was often hard for other people to tell what I felt at any particular time. At least, that's what Sasuke said.

There was a sharp intake of breath from my right, and I glanced at Sasuke questioningly, pricking my ears for any danger – but there was nothing but the ripples of the water and the sound of the pole moving the boat. No more breathing sources than there should be. I mentally shrugged and was about to dismiss it altogether when Sakura gasped and hissed, "Wow, it's _huge! _That is _incredible!_"

"What is?" I asked blankly, then ducked, letting Sakura's fist swish harmlessly overhead. "I was just asking, sheesh! No need to hit me!"

Sakura sniffed irritably. "The bridge, you idiot!"

"Ohhh, so _that's _what that thing is." Something up ahead of us had almost entirely blocked off what little airflow there was. I had been wondering what it was. I dodged another blow for my comment, hiding a smile. So predictable. Although it was probably a good thing she was; she put enough power behind her punches for me to not want to get hit.

The air deadened around me and I went still, listening to a sudden slew of echoing water ripples, made nervous by the sudden confusing void. Sasuke breathed into my ear, "We're going through a tunnel – an arch under a bridge or something. No worries."

I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding as the breeze stirred slightly against my skin again, thirty blank seconds later, and the echoes vanished as the tunnel opened out onto open water. Wood tapped wood as the prow of the boat bumped against a wooden jetty, and I heard our oarsman say quietly, "This is it for me – I'm not risking Gatou's wrath any more than I already have. Good luck, Tazuna."

Sasuke stood up carefully, putting his feet firmly on the jetty and making the wood clatter slightly under his sandals. I followed immediately, not letting go of his sleeve, and was unspeakably relieved to feel wood under my feet and not empty air or freezing water. I felt a little nauseous, to my confusion – had I upset myself enough to make myself ill? Kakashi-sensei and Sakura exited the small craft quickly, and the man helped Tazuna step out as well.

There was a soft splash as the boat pulled away from the shore, and I listened to the sound of the oarsman's fading breathing and heart rate until it disappeared altogether. We were in the Land of Waves, enemy territory. If it hadn't been serious before, this mission was definitely serious by now.

As we walked down the pebbly trail, the small rocks crunching under our sandals, I kept one hand of Sasuke's arm, focusing on blocking out the sound of the ocean but still listening to our surroundings. It was harder than I expected, and it took me several seconds to realise that there was another set of vital signs, _human _vital signs, nearby, probably hidden from the view of the others. I couldn't sense any chakra, not even the life support of a civilian, which meant he was hiding it. At least from me. Kakashi-sensei could probably sense it where I couldn't – I wasn't that good with this sensing thing yet.

Then his chakra flickered into existence in my mind, just a little, his position shifting with a brush of grass, and I hurled a kunai at him instantly. The chakra flashed – a kawarimi – and I whipped around, a second kunai already headed for his landing position.

A second flash, and I cursed – too slow. He'd substituted again and was out of range now. Then I had to duck and fend off my female teammate, who was less than pleased. "NARUTO! What do you think you're doing? You scared me!"

"What kind of ninja are you that a kunai thrown by a _teammate _no less can scare you?" I snarled, angrily shoving my weapons back into their pouch.

There was some scratching and rustling from the shrubbery, and I assumed Sakura was going to see what I had been aiming at. "Don't bother, I missed," I told her sharply. "He got away." I was too slow. Damn, kawarimi was annoying. Useful as hell, but annoying when used against you.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted, making me sigh. _What now?_ "You nearly hit this poor rabbit!"

I frowned in confusion. No sensible rabbit would be as close to a human as that would have had to be for my kunai to have any chance of hitting it. He must have used it as his substitution, I guessed; less suspicious than a random log, and less chakra flare than a shunshin. Not to mention faster. I noted the skill in a corner of my mind, baring my teeth as Kakashi-sensei lectured me, "Naruto, kunai are _sharp. _Be careful where you throw them."

"There was someone there!" I hissed to Sasuke, clenching and unclenching my fists. "They were _there, _they kawarimi-ed out before I could hit them! Don't lecture me on chakra sensing, he was hiding it until he needed to dodge! And don't try to give me crap about the rabbit either, I can _tell _a human heartbeat from a goddamn rodent's!" I degenerated into mental fuming. I had better ears than anyone here, except maybe Kakashi, and he hadn't even sensed the guy! But no one would care about a mere _genin's _opinion, let alone the dead last's.

"I believe you," Sasuke said quietly, interrupting my mental ranting. I blinked, then relaxed slightly. It always made me feel better, every time I was reminded that I wasn't actually alone, that there was someone on my side. Every time I was reminded of reality. "Any clues on identity?"

I shook my head slightly, my lips pursing in frustration. "Sorry. The shreds of chakra I got weren't familiar, and not enough for a proper scan. I'm out of my depth."

Then I heard the sound of something huge slicing through the air, the coiling flicker that translated to spinning, a shift in Kakashi-sensei's breathing –

I yelped as Sasuke grabbed me and dragged me down, the sound freezing in my throat as I heard a blade that had to be at least four feet long slash into the tree behind us, carving straight through the bark and jamming deep in the heartwood. I was frozen. _If Sasuke hadn't grabbed me… that sword… it went deep, way deep, into _wood _of all things… it would have gone straight through me…_

"Well, well, well," said a cold voice from higher up – _tree, suspended, climb, jump – _"I guess some of the hype about you is true, Copycat Kakashi."

I shook myself and swallowed, gritting my teeth for the coming fight. The blood was starting to pound in my ears, making it just that little bit harder to hear, and I forced myself to focus.

"Well well well," said Kakashi-sensei lightly. "If it isn't Momochi Zabuza, the kid who ran off and left the Land of Mist!" I filed the name quickly, trying to sense out the still-hidden chakra to get an identity lock on the guy, but he was still shielding it entirely – like a void in my senses, where there should have been energy. "This could be a little rough," Sensei mused under his breath, and I let my eyes flicker over to him for just a second.

Zabuza, the man was called, spoke up again, his voice icy cold, slightly grating, taut with some unidentified emotion. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you surrender the old man?" _Fear? Anger? Excitement?_

"Is he some kind of an idiot?" I asked blankly under my breath. Sasuke snorted faintly.

Then I flinched as the enemy unshielded his chakra slowly, building up a sense of power that I guessed was supposed to intimidate us. As it built up speed I decided he was doing a very good job of it.

Kakashi-sensei shifted. I can't say how, exactly, but he just… _shifted. _Something changed, maybe in how he stood, or in his voice, or maybe his chakra, but something was different. "Assume the manji battle formation," he ordered crisply, taking a step forwards. "Stay out of this fight. He's way out of your league."

"Believe me Sensei, I'm working that out on my own," I whispered almost silently.

A low, cool chuckle. "Ahh… to face the legendary Sharingan eye so soon in our acquaintance… this certainly _is _an honour!"

I bared my teeth silently, making a mental note to ask Sasuke what was happening later on. This wasn't making a whole lot of sense to me, and I really needed a visual. Or at least a description of the situation… ANYTHING would do!

"When I was an assassin for Kirigakure…" our opponent continued to speak, not needing further prompting, "I possessed the usual Bingo Book – a kind of who's who of our enemies. It had a rather extensive write-up of you, including a mention of your impressive record. The man who copied over a thousand jutsu… known as Kakashi, the Copy Ninja."

I blinked twice quickly, anxiously wondering what we were going to do. Sensei said to stay out of the fight…

"Enough," Zabuza announced, drawing my attention back to where his cold, unnervingly amused voice was coming from. "Pleasant as this conversation has been, I'm on a tight schedule to finish off the old man."

All three of us genin sprang into ready positions beside Tazuna, whose heartbeat was just skyrocketed. I didn't blame him, and found myself wishing that I had my damn shock tags working properly. Flash and bang was all very well, but I had a nasty suspicion we'd need a lot more firepower in a fight like this one.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan… the master of a thousand jutsu, the elite of the Konohagakure Village. It looks like I'll have to go through you first."

There was a loud crack and a flare of chakra and I swung my head to the right as the follow-up shunshin flicker appeared, and a split second later my teammates gasped as they followed the same motion.

"Is he – walking on water?" Sakura gasped, and I frowned in confusion. _How could that be possible? That chakra buildup – is it concentrated… in his–?_

Then there was a flare of unfamiliar feeling chakra – _no, felt once before_ – and the air grew colder – _water? –_

"The finest of the ninja arts. The Kirigakure no jutsu!"

_Hidden in the mist – mist – Kiri – cold – water! I get it now, he's calling up mist! But – what for?_

"He's gone!" Sakura shouted.

_Aha. That's what._

"He'll come after me first," Kakashi-sensei warned, his voice cool and clipped. "Momochi Zabuza was a member of Kirigakure's assassin corps – a famous master of the art of silent killing. Letting your guard down around him buys you a direct trip to heaven. I haven't necessarily mastered my Sharingan… so all of you stay on your toes!"

I swallowed anxiously. _Believe me, sensei, I haven't been off my toes since we left the village._

The mist was brushing distractingly against my skin, wisps of cold air heavy with water sending tingling shocks over my flesh, and the musty scent and taste of fog was damping my senses. The breathing and heartbeats of the others, their life signs, quieted as if they'd moved away, but when I reached out, I could touch Sasuke's shoulder.

I gulped, and braced myself. If Sensei was right – and there was no reason for him not to be – we were in a whole lot of trouble.

"There are eight targets…"

I jerked back a step, then turned my head swiftly, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. "Wha – what was that?" my female teammate yelped. The fog was muffling everything, making it hard for me to hear what was happening, and the voice of our newest enemy was echoing disturbingly from all over the place, making me sense flashes of solid structures where I already knew there was nothing.

"Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, jugular vein, subclavian artery, kidney, heart. So many choices… what vital, vulnerable place shall I choose?"

I swallowed again nervously, hands gripping my kunai until the tendons ached, searching in the muffled environment and trying to ignore the heavy, choking air, the feeling of breathing water, the thick smell and taste, the distracting whispers against my skin – my hands – my legs – my neck – my face –

Killer intent was flooding the air, but I ignored it, the bloodlust constantly leaking from my mindscape rising against the challenge. I wasn't fazed – I'm used to KI, and was more interested in pinpointing the Kiri bastard –

Sakura was shaking, Tazuna's heartbeat about four times too fast, Sasuke's breathing coming in short, harsh gasps – but he was ok, killer intent didn't bother him as much as it used to – Kakashi-sensei's breathing was normal if blurred by distance but _where was his heartbeat?_

"Don't worry, guys," his voice called out, thin and tinny through the mist. "Even if he gets me, I'll still protect you. No matter what, I will never let my comrades die."

_That's all well and good, but it's very hard to protect someone when you're dead, Sensei, _I thought grimly.

Chakra flared, and I felt my eyes widen slightly as Zabuza materialised directly behind me.

"Game over."

Another chakra flash, this one from Sensei, and suddenly I was being thrown away in an abrupt flash of energy that left me reeling and a splatter of water – but no one had landed near the water – _and why could I still not hear Sensei's heartbeat?_

That flicker –

"Sensei behind you!" I bellowed, pushing myself onto one knee.

Splash!

I heard a sword swinging and Sakura screamed, promptly followed by another splash, then –

Flicker.

"Don't move."

Sensei was fast – very fast to be able to flicker like that – but before – _water clone? Felt right – _like normal bunshin, with a Kiri tinge, a bit of water jutsu and Kage Bunshin mixed in –

"Game over."

He'd substituted – shunshined – bunshin in there somewhere, I hadn't quite sensed through the mist, that I now realised was faintly imbued with chakra, enough to mess with my senses – _explains the tingles – _the water – the fight was over so quickly –

Zabuza started to chuckle darkly, and I pulled myself all the way to my feet, suddenly edgy. "You think it's over?"

I edged towards where I thought – where I _hoped _– Sasuke was. _I don't anymore, you lunatic…_

"You just don't get it. It'll take more to beat me than just copying me like a monkey."

_I don't know, it seems to be working fairly well thus far._

The assassin laughed again. "But you're good, I'll give you that. In those few precious seconds, you copied my water clone technique–" _water clone, I guessed right! – _"And by making your clone say the same sappy shit you'd say yourself, you made sure it had my full attention, while you used the Kirigakure technique of hiding in the mist, observing me.

"Too bad for you…"

My breath caught in my throat – another chakra flicker –

"I am not that easy to fool."

I heard the keen whistle of Zabuza's massive blade cutting the air – a brushing swish as it missed Kaka-sensei by a millimetre – a crack – a clattering crunch – then a heavy thump and Sensei was moving, fast.

And as my mind rapidly connected the violent sequence, I knew it wasn't under his own volition.

There was a loud, painful splash, and my head jerked automatically in its direction, noting Zabuza's disdainful snort with some anxiety. I couldn't hear Sensei's breathing – was it the distance – was he still underwater – knocked out – drowning –

A splash, and an audible gasp – he'd broken the surface, and I flinched as Zabuza flickered away – to stand over Kakashi-sensei. _This just got very bad._

"Gullible fool. Suiton: Suiro no jutsu!"

A massive rippling splash made me scowl furiously, both nervous of the watery sound and of the fact that I _couldn't see what was going on!_

Zabuza laughed, the sound sending chills down my spine as I stared anxiously in the adults' direction, wondering what the hell was going on. "This prison is inescapable. You're trapped."

_Shit._

"You running around makes it difficult for me to do what I'm paid for," Zabuza said flippantly, talking more to Kakashi-sensei than us, I think. "I'll finish you later, after I've dealt with the others."

I swallowed and went stiff, resisting any and all instinct to panic. Sakura was shaking slightly and Sasuke was tense; our client behind us was trembling like a leaf. Che. Civilians.

Zabuza's chakra flickered slightly, the essence that I was starting to recognise as a water clone jutsu attracting my attention with a rushing of water. The Kiri-nin _(he is Kiri, right?) _started to speak again, or at least it was his voice – but it was the water clone talking. "Little ninja wannabes… trying so hard, even wearing a Leaf hitai-ate. But a true ninja is one who has crossed and recrossed the barrier between the lands of the living and the dead."

I frowned slightly. What did that mean, exactly? That a ninja was the deliverer of souls to the Death God? I'd heard that before – but this didn't seem to quite fit it. More like… a ninja had to brave danger and stand on Death's doorstep to have true strength.

Low, growling laughter rang in my mind, and I wondered grimly where that would leave me.

"A headband doesn't make you a ninja. You need skills good enough to rate a listing in my Bingo Book before you deserve to be called a ninja. We don't call your kind ninja. We call them…"

He flickered out and I yelped, swinging up my arms to block and almost not getting there in time as chakra flared panickedly through my coils. The clone's foot slammed powerfully against my forearms and I was flung backwards with the force, rolling over and over dizzyingly through the dust, my headband clattering on the floor nearby, one end wrapped loosely around my wrist.

"…brats."

My teammates were shouting _surprise fear loud loud sharp fear _as I scrambled to my feet, gasping for the air that had been forced out of my lungs. This was very bad. I let my eyes flicker uselessly over the battlefield as my mind put all the broken pieces together.

Sensei, captured.

Zabuza, the boiling chakra in my senses, edged with nothingness.

Mizu bunshin, a glint of fluid chakra.

The curve of the lake lapping the shore.

My teammates.

The civilian.

Sasuke…

A slow smile worked its way onto my face as I tied my hitai-ate firmly around my head again. If we could get this to work… if I wasn't overestimating my skill… we would survive this.

"Sasuke," I spoke up, palming a couple of sheets of paper. "I think I've got something." I quickly muttered an abbreviated explanation and slipped him the bundle, already beginning to shift and move surreptitiously to the side, inhaling slowly and focusing.

"Guys, what are you doing?" Kakashi-sensei shouted, his words slightly muffled – like he was _underwater? _"This was over as soon as I got caught! Get Tazuna out of here! You three can't face up to Zabuza!"

"Theoretically, three genin can take down a jounin," Sasuke said determinedly. There was a clank _kunai _and a rustle of dirt as he shifted his heels for better grip, getting ready.

"You don't understand!" Kakashi thundered, and I fought not to jerk and attract attention. Slow, steady and natural, drawing myself inward. I was a part of the shifting wind, fading from existence. "Zabuza is a Kiri ninja! They're nothing like what you've fought before! _Run for it!_"

There was a hitch in Sasuke's muffled breathing as I slid a few more feet away through the heavy, tingling mist. _Mist… yeah… wasn't there something wacked out about Kiri's training system…?_

"Those who break the rules are trash, those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash," Sasuke quoted, his voice becoming tinny and wavering as I moved silently, inconspicuously around the shore as the distance between us increased. "Hypocrite. We're not leaving you behind."

I nearly flinched again as an irregular, jerking noise wound its way through the foggy air to my ears. Zabuza was laughing. I took a slow breath, only releasing the whisper of air when the wind stirred around me, the sound masked by the faint breeze. Laughter. Was. Bad.

"You guys will never grow up," he sneered, and I scowled at the threat. "Going to keep on playing ninja? I warn you now that when I was your age, my hands were already dyed red with the blood of the dead!" I sensed the mizu bunshin _fluid curve chakra move – _and then _clack clack crash whoooosh _and the chakra _folded in on itself_ and slid away, reassembling a few metres away from Sasuke, a few metres closer to me.

"Get out of here!" Kakashi's voice was thin and barely there, and there was soft cold freezing water lapping my toes but I didn't react, didn't flinch, not entirely there, nothing here don't look here I'm not here nothing here – his voice took on the quality of a storyteller in spite of the situation – "Long ago, in the Mist Village, known as the Bloody Mist, there was a final obstacle to be overcome on your path to being a ninja…"

"Hm? You even know about the graduation exam…"

_That exam… like our bunshin? No… it was worse than that… can't remember… …why does Sensei know? Village secrets… information… S-class… I'm forgetting something, I know I am, but just wait just listen hang on just a few more steps –_

"W-what exam?" Sakura chirped, her voice so far away and faltering.

"The final exam… it was a fight to the death between the students," Zabuza answered. If I hadn't already been so deep I would have gasped, the information mixing with what I could remember and slotting in like a missing puzzle piece. _Every village has its secrets, _I thought, and shifted.

"Friends who have trained together, learned together and eaten at the same table for most of their lives are pitted against each other… they are forced to fight until one of them loses their life…" His voice echoed around me, and I half-paused, trying to judge the distance. "These are friends who had helped each other, shared their hopes and dreams and their very lives…"

"That's horrible…" Sakura murmured, as if from very far away.

"Ten years ago, the graduation exam of Kirigakure was… forced to change." Kakashi-sensei spoke now. "This change occurred after the previous year… when a demon appeared."

I blinked.

"Change?" Sakura questioned aloud, when neither Sasuke nor I said anything to keep the conversation going. "What change? What did this… demon… do?"

There was an unsettled pause of maybe two seconds.

"Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who was not even a ninja yet killed over a hundred of the other students."

"Ah… those were the days…" Zabuza sounded almost nostalgic, if not for the KI I was able to sense as I slowly came out of Hiding.

"That was our daring friend Zabuza here…" Kakashi-sensei continued, his voice ringing stronger in my mind. "That's how he earned his nickname… the Demon of the Mist."

"**Demon of the Mist, huh?" **The laughing chuckle echoing around me made my empty chest cavity reverberate with the force of it. **"This fool had best prepare to meet the Demon of the Leaf!"**

I ignored the voice and braced myself, hoping Sasuke wasn't freezing up with the burning waves of killer intent and hoping the chakra-charged mist wasn't tipping me off my target with its buzzing hum. Then I heard the skimming whir of the massive shuriken Mizuki had once used and the _chang _as Zabuza caught it easily. At this distance I couldn't sense the blistering chakra, but I heard a faint susurrus gasp that I didn't think was natural – water splashed – the tingle that was a tag going off and another a second or two later – a yelp of surprise – a rush of hot chakra and the fluid chakra vanished altogether –

Another low chuckle, and I braced myself, focusing, waiting for the signal. "You pathetic brats. Although I'll give you points for having the sense to aim for my real body –"

_Shing–shreeeeeeeeeeeee –_

_There!_

I threw and let the loop of wire spiral out as the kunai it was attached to flew wide, well away from the missing-nin, and I breathlessly counted, knowing that a second too late or too soon could kill us all.

_Three… four… NOW!_

The huff of the miniature fireballs running interference – the tiniest of charges spurting from my fingers – the kunai dropped and – there it was – the resistance – the swiping swing – and I pulled.

The three wire-strung kunai Sasuke had thrown wide now swung towards me, guided by my own wire, pulling tight around the missing-nin we had purposely aimed to miss, and I grinned. _Try dodging now, bastard. _I threw round stones, the paper rasping under the fingers of my right hand as my left held tight to the loop of wire keeping Zabuza captive. I heard keening knives from Sasuke, holding the other end of our impromptu net, and Kakashi-sensei was shouting something made unintelligible by distance and echoes. Explosions – the repeated tingles of my tags self-combusting –

I felt a tug on the wire and hurled my last stone, the directed tag leaving my hand a split second before the wire loosed. Zabuza had cut it. But pinned between two lines of attack and our struggling sensei, he had no choice but to bolt as our attacks scraped past.

Abruptly, the fight was out of our hands, as our sensei now attacked the missing-nin who'd been holding him prisoner. Broad flashes of chakra and clangs and cracks of contact – a swirl as they stopped and the chakra _moved _– they were talking, but I was too far away, and I began to shift again, moving back towards my teammates in case I was needed. Shouting, rushing, a single whisper of _something_ –

The void vanished.

I blinked and jerked, startled, sensing Sasuke's rough heartbeat a few metres from me as the chakra-infused fog quieted slightly. The void that had been our enemy was – _gone. _There had been a tiny flare of chakra, but – _nothing. _I didn't even sense the low chakra you'd expect, of someone dying or whatever – but I've never sensed that before, so I'm not the best person to be asking.

Then, just like that, another vague void flared into existence near Sensei – I choked on a cry of shock, and Sasuke stiffened beside me – but then he relaxed, and I automatically quieted, trying to follow what was happening with senses still scrambled from the shifts. Time seemed to stretch and warp, and I shook myself a few times, trying to clear my senses and hear what was going on through the blurriness of my adrenaline rush. "-ruto?"

"Huh?" I shook my head again, blinking rapidly as if it would disperse the mist that had fallen over my mind.

"Naruto, you okay?" Sasuke was saying.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…" I shook my head sharply, sending a tremor of pain through my neck, and everything snapped back into focus, time no longer distorting around me, and there were no chakra voids – just my team and the civilian and Sensei – although the weight of his chakra was still shifting, my senses must be unreliable, still shaken up –

_Thump._

I blinked, my head tilted to where I was reasonably sure Sensei had just collapsed on the ground, his life signs feeling a little bit out, but definitely present. "Sensei!" Sakura gasped, her voice startling in its clarity.

"It's just chakra exhaustion, I think," Sasuke said, his chakra shifting and compressing ever so slightly as he knelt to check Kakashi-sensei's pulse. "I – I think he just wore himself out…"

"What was with that… the Mist ninja?" Sakura asked. "A hunter-nin, Sensei said?"

_Another ninja…? The second void, it must have been – Zabuza, missing-nin, hunter-nin, Kiri must have been after him, caught up – we had some help…? _Aloud, I said absently, "Hunter-nin, they're a sub-sect of ANBU, aren't they?" as I bobbed down beside my downed teacher.

"Yeah," my friend was quick to confirm. "Mist's are the best known, but Konoha's got a division or two. Hey! Tazuna-san! How far have we got to go?" I vaguely sensed the civilian startle. "We need to rest; Sensei's not looking too good right now."

"Not far now," I heard the cracked voice of the old bridge builder ring out, far clearer than it should have been, and I realised abruptly that all of the chakra-tingles of the mist had dissipated.

"Good. Naruto, can you give me a hand to carry this idiot?"

I nodded reactively, taking the weight that was leaned on me carefully and shaking my head again, trying to get rid of the soft growling at the back of my mind. _Man, _that was annoying…

_Why does this keep happening?_

* * *

A while later, a long while later, I was going over everything I remembered about the fight, trying to piece together a rather broken series of events. Getting dragged out of my shift like I had had stuffed up my senses for far too long, making me uncertain of exactly what had been going on at the tail end of the fight. Had we even won? I mean, we were _alive, _but still… Sitting upright with my back against one wall of the room our team had been given, I waited until Sakura's breathing settled peacefully, indicating sleep, keeping a touch of my attention on Sensei warily in case he decided to wake up earlier than the Uchiha had guessed, before interrogating Sasuke.

"Okay, Sasuke, spill it, what happened today? I need everything – the mist screwed up my perception something bad. Did we win the fight?" He snorted and I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, did we win?"

"Yeah, you remember the hunter-nin?"

I frowned. "Only vaguely… I'm guessing we got help from one of Kiri's tracker ninja? That would _definitely _explain why we're alive… Okay, so Zabuza was babbling about the Sharingan at one point – that's your clan's doujutsu, right?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, with a tone that indicated an affirmative. "Kakashi-sensei is apparently known in the Bingo books as Kakashi of the Sharingan or Copycat Kakashi, but you picked all that up already." I nodded swiftly – he seemed to want confirmation. "Ok. At the start of the fight, Sensei pulled up his hitai-ate, and his left eye was a Sharingan eye – a high level, too, if I remember right."

My eyebrows went up a little and I felt my mouth quirking slightly. "Seriously?"

"Hn."

"The Sharingan, that's clan specific, right? _Your _clan! Does that mean he's an Uchiha?" My mind was whirling and clicking with thoughts, reeling them off almost faster than I could keep track of, and I zeroed in on Sasuke's reply.

"Che, I don't know. I don't think so – wrong name, 'Ha-ta-ke'. Why would it only be in one eye but not the other anyway?"

I blinked, then bit the side of my cheek lightly in thought. "Were there… was there a scar or something in or over that eye, or even the other one, to indicate previous injury? Like a cut or something?"

"Yeah, big scar over his left eye." Sasuke sounded vaguely surprised. "You think maybe…?"

"He probably got his original eye slashed out by that injury," I explained, "and the Sharingan was donated by someone else… a teammate, a friend, or something. I don't know exactly why that would happen… but… man, I really need to track down Sensei's files."

"And… if his other eye had been hurt, it could have damaged the Sharingan?" Sasuke guessed, and I nodded rapidly.

"Exactly. Either one could have been possible – ninja life isn't risk-free."

Sasuke sighed, a rough gust of air. "Speaking of which, should we set up a guard for the night? Maybe we took down Zabuza, but there might be others out there."

I nodded grimly. "Sounds like a plan. I'll take first watch, I'm not as tired as you are yet."

I ignored the faint laughter only I could hear.

* * *

"Hey! Sensei's up!"

"Ergh… I'm severely wounded, Naruto, do you really feel the need to shout at me…?"

I beamed, thrilled that our main source of information/security/protection was awake at last. "I'm not shouting _at _you, Sensei, I'm shouting _for _you! GUYS! HE'S AWAKE!"

"I feel hung-over…" Kakashi-sensei mumbled, almost silently.

"Well that's what you get for using up all your chakra," I informed him cheerfully, hearing Sasuke's faint footsteps tapping the stairs – _onetwothreefourfiveskip _automatically skipping the creaky one – as Sakura came up behind him.

"Sensei! You're awake!" Sakura cried as she swung the door open. I wondered if I should be offended at her lack of trust in my observational skills, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. "I was so worried! I mean, chakra exhaustion's really serious! If that hunter-nin hadn't come along we might not have made it!"

There was a pregnant, unexpected pause, and our teacher's mood seemed to darken as he shifted to sit up, a significant change in the air that made me look at him anxiously. "Kakashi-sensei? What's wrong?"

"Hmm… The hunter-nin… Of course…" Had he figured out whatever was bothering him? It didn't sound like good news, whatever it was. "The shinobi hunters who manage corpse disposals are supposed to destroy the bodies of those they kill at once, right on the spot."

Sakura was unmoved by this piece of information. "So what?" I couldn't say I was particularly impressed either, but I did agree with Sensei: something was ringing wrong about the whole situation. As I listened to him grimly explaining the so-called hunter-nin, Zabuza's false death and how we would have to be ready for anything, I sighed. Things are never simple, are they?

The training schedule? It's amazing, the innocent things our sensei makes sound like death threats.

_

* * *

_

Kakashi's Log

_I've been out of S-rank missions for a long time now. Suddenly running into an A-rank missing-nin with three green genin and a client to protect is not fun._

_On the plus side, my genin have definitely got some tactical skills I haven't seen them showing before, although their teamwork continues to astonish. Note: I have yet to see those Academy reports. Must remember to check when we get back._

_On the minus side, they are all MORONS for not following orders and getting the hell out of there when I told them to._

_Also on the plus side, they took my warning when I first met them to heart. Although maybe that should be on the minus side…_

_Note: DEFINITELY get Naruto's ears checked for hypersensitivity. He froze up when the ocean got too loud, apparently overpowering all his other senses. I can do that while we're in Wave, fortunately._

_I have decided. I DO NOT WANT A GENIN TEAM. EVER. EVER. AGAIN!_

* * *

Techniques:

**Kirigakure no jutsu (Hidden in the Mist)  
**If you remember last chapter's little explanation, then you'll have picked up that this jutsu meant 'hidden in the mist' – and that's pretty much what it does. The user focuses their chakra and disperses it through the air, using it to condense water into a thick, heavy mist that makes it impossible to see things. In the anime and manga, hearing is the sense most relied on when using this technique, but mist and fog can cause sounds to echo a little out of whack; Hatake Kakashi uses scent to track his opponents through it. It's not an attack jutsu, but it can be very annoying, and is native to the Mist Village.

**Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone)**  
This is basically a clone, like the original illusionary bunshin taught to students, but is closer to Kage bunshin in its makeup: it's solid, can take some damage, and takes less chakra to make than a Kage bunshin, but it also requires a water source for anyone except a true master of the water element, and is rumoured to be able to take less damage and to be the second-weakest version of clones.

**Suiton: Suiro no jutsu (Water Release: Water Prison)  
**This jutsu causes a bubble of water to encase the target, and is said to be impossible to escape from. However, the user must be touching the bubble for it to hold, making it a short-range jutsu and therefore a bit risky; it also needs a water source unless the user is a water master. There is some argument about whether or not captives can breathe, as Hatake Kakashi was known to hold an entire conversation while being held in the Suiro, but the exact physics of how that would happen is unknown.

Concept of the Day: **Pronunciation**

Japanese is a far more syllabic language than English. Where an English letter's sound changes depending on the other letters around it, the Japanese sounds remain pretty much the same no matter what you do with them. Sounds can be altered or extended with particular punctuation marks, but not completely warped like English.

An example of this in action is a favoured insult in the Naruto fandom: 'dobe'. By basic English pronunciation, this word has only one syllable, pronounced 'dohb' with a very soft 'b' sound. Japanese pronunciation dictates two distinct syllables and a stronger 'b' sound, 'doh-beh'.

This syllable thing may sound confusing, but people who study Japanese will understand how the syllables are organised in hiragana and katakana.

* * *

A/N: Well, that was entertaining. For those of you who, like me, are far enough along in their understanding that the little sections at the end of each chapter acting as translator are annoying, I apologise. However, I remember how freaking confusing it was to have random Japanese in a story without translations. For a story like Who I Am that only uses titbits for effect, this isn't as much of a problem, as I don't use most of the Japanese vocabulary that I could, for the fact that it's confusing, and if someone's reading this, it's because they are an ENGLISH speaker… and four out of seven schools don't offer Japanese as a LOTE. So bear with me, guys, and remember it could be worse.


	7. Nightmares

A/N: Righto, this took longer than I would have liked. The fact that I hadn't read the manga for this chapter, nor seen the anime, means that the explanations here are severely paraphrased, or worked to my personal understanding, which I'm told at times is really twisted. I was also incapacitated by swine flu and a bout of depression following the mysterious disappearance of several irreplaceable pages of story notes.

However, the depression lifted after I cleaned my desk, and two days spent delirious cleared up that pesky flu. In the end, though, this chapter ended up dedicated to Twin1, who in spite of having coughing fits every half-sentence, is the only reason this chapter made it out at this time, particularly once my muse went on strike in protest at our latest English assignment. Everyone give her a round of applause. (My sister, that is, not my muse, who has been locked in the attic until further notice.)

Okay, onto the important story notices. Owing to the fact that underlining is plain painful to read and bolding is reserved for something else, a lot of stuff is in italics, including thoughts, dreams, flashbacks, memos, Kakashi's log entries and emphasis; so, italics has a broad definition of 'change in consciousness'. Please use your best reasoning to determine which it is; it ought to be relatively clear as memos and Kakashi's logs are marked as such and thoughts and dreams are generally pretty obvious; HOWEVER I flatly refuse to blatantly mark flashbacks and dream sequences. That's just dumb. And if you have any good taste whatsoever, painful to read.

SO. If it's a bit confusing, I'm sorry. But I'm not switching to underline. It hurts my eyes, and my head, and chemistry gives me enough headaches as it is.

**

* * *

**

Seven: Nightmares

I blinked. "Uh, come again?"

"Tree-climbing!" Sensei sounded waaay too happy. There was something to this exercise that I hadn't gotten yet.

"But, Kakashi-sensei, we can already climb trees!" Sakura's voice radiated confusion; her chakra signature, becoming familiar to my senses, rippled and twinged slightly –_ is that confusion? Interesting – _"We learned that back in the Academy!"

"Or earlier, if you hung out with that monkey Kiba for any period of time," I commented under my breath. Sasuke snorted faintly, shifting near me with a rustle of cotton.

Sensei didn't notice our exchange, continuing, "Ah, but this time, we're going to learn how to climb trees without using our hands!"

I stared at him uncomprehendingly. Sasuke said, apprehensively, "You know, I really ought to have expected him to start asking us to do the impossible. The blindfold incident should have tipped me off – our teacher is insane."

**It's a chakra exercise, you maggot-ridden fleshbag of idiocy, **came the unwelcome drawl, as Sensei continued, "I'm hurt that you think I'd ask the impossible of my students, Sasuke! This is an exercise designed to help you maintain better control over your chakra. Watch and learn."

I bit my tongue, focusing on my teacher's movements as he limped over to the nearest tree, and… kept walking. I blinked, my head tilting as I followed his progress upwards, and mentally shrugged. He seemed to be climbing a tree. Man, if I could see what was going on this would make so much more sense…

Sakura made a choked noise and Sasuke shifted again, and now I knew I was missing something. I raised one eyebrow and let my mouth fall slightly open, mimicking a perplexed expression as I mumbled out the corner of my mouth to Sasuke, "What the hell?"

The Uchiha didn't have a chance to answer straight away, as Sensei clarified his earlier explanation with, "See? We're going to climb trees – _without using our hands_!"

I blinked, and suddenly my expression was real. _The __**hell? **__Didn't he say that before?_

"This is basically it, in a nutshell," Sensei admitted from where he was (Sasuke describing it to me in an undertone) hanging upside down from a tree branch, now sounding bored. "Focus as much chakra as you can in the soles of your feet and use that power to cling to the trunk. When you have full control over your chakra, there's almost nothing you can't do."

"But – Kakashi-sensei, how will learning to climb trees this way make us any stronger?" Sakura asked; her voice, loud and sharp, made me flinch.

Our teacher sighed. "I'm getting to that, listen and learn. The point of it all, the goal… is greater control over your chakra.

"A lot of the chakra you draw for jutsu is wasted, and you tire yourself out more quickly. This exercise will teach you better control so that you only use what you need for your techniques, and maximise the effectiveness of what you do use.

"Of course, this is made more difficult by the fact that the sole of your foot is one of the hardest places in the body to accurately focus your chakra. If you can master the chakra flow in your feet, you will be able to focus it anywhere. In theory, anyway."

The last part was muttered very low, so I probably wasn't meant to hear it, but I rolled my eyes anyway. _Of course, Sensei, because theory always works exactly as it should in practice and battle plans never randomly go wrong._

"So!" _Chink-chink-clink,_ Sensei sounded gleefully cheerful. "The best way to learn is by doing!" The sheer whisper of split air – I took a step back and a kunai buried itself in the dirt near my feet. "I'm not expecting you guys to make it all the way up the tree first time, so use these kunai to mark how high you get each time to remind yourself. A running start will probably give you enough momentum for a good first attempt…"

I shot a withering look in his direction, kneeling to pick up the kunai. "Yeah, running headfirst at a tree sounds intelligent," Sasuke grumbled.

Kakashi's clothes rustled, and there were twin 'thunks' as he landed squarely on his crutches as he jumped down from his tree. "Suit yourselves."

I glanced at him as he started to move, the crutches making his steps uneven, and yelped as I smacked into a tree. "Ow!"

"Dammit, dobe, watch where you're walking," Sasuke growled, and I hid the quirk at the edge of my mouth in a sneer.

"Shut the hell up, teme."

Within three minutes I lost count of how many times I hit the ground. The first attempt was nothing short of disastrous, too much chakra sending me skidding backwards before I could even get both feet off the ground. Several tries later, I managed to get the right amount of chakra to stick, only to discover my usual problem was interfering: my chakra's overactive tendency to waver, flare, and otherwise excitedly escape my control.

"Ow."

A couple of steps, and my control would slip and send me flying. The repeated falling was enough to almost make me thankful I couldn't get very high, I admitted to myself where I was sprawled in the dirt for the _nth _time. At least this way I wouldn't break my neck.

"Idiot. Can't you do anything right?" _Do you need any help?_

"Yeah, Naruto! You're totally hopeless!"

Sasuke's hidden concern I could deal with, but Sakura's obvious barbs were stupidly hurtful. I mean, I didn't even _care _what she thought. "Shut up, the both of you," I snarled, dragging myself upright and shaking dirt out of my hair.

_Okay. Deep breath, and let's try this again. _I drew my hands together in the ram seal _first two straight left over right _and pulled.

Whispering fire boiled up, fizzing eagerly under my skin. _Deep breath, and focus it in the feet… _My shoes were starting to warm as I closed my eyes and carefully placed my foot on the tree. It stuck fast, and I stepped… and stepped… and kept walking, not faltering at the two-step mark as I had been for the past half-hour.

The flicker of surprise was my undoing. An extra flash of chakra – I wobbled, and slipped, with a yelp realising that I was probably high enough to hurt myself this time. I slammed the kunai Sensei had given me into the bark – and stuck fast.

From about two metres below my dangling feet, Kakashi-sensei asked wonderingly, "Naruto, are you afraid of heights?"

Both hands clinging to the kunai's handle, I peered downwards, trying to get my bearings enough to jump without breaking an ankle. "It's not heights I'm afraid of, Sensei, it's the _ground._"

Sasuke sighed and thunked to the ground. "Hang on, dobe, I'll come get you. You're _pathetic_, but I'll come get you anyway…"

I saved him the trouble by falling out of the tree.

* * *

Three days later, I was making little headway with the stupid exercise, and my patience was rapidly waning. I was eyeing the tree disdainfully, trying to get my flickering chakra to quiet down so that I could take another shot at this, but I wasn't yet at the state of exhaustion where that was possible.

"Naruto, could I talk to you for a minute?"

I jumped in spite of myself. "Wha – eh?" Sensei had managed to creep up on me – he was damn quiet at the best of times, and I was distracted anyway. "Kakashi-sensei? Um, yes? What's wrong?"

Something of his clothing shifted – a shrug, a shift of weight? – "Nothing's wrong, Naruto. I just wanted to try something with you, see if I could figure something out."

"Um… okay?" I tried uncertainly, confused and edgy. What had I done wrong this time?

"Okay. I need you to sit down and close your eyes."

I shrugged and plonked down on the grass, shutting eyes that didn't work anyway and awaiting further instruction. "Tell me what you can hear. Identify it if you can, and describe it if you can't."

Biting my lip, I started to listen, opening my mind to the sounds I had been stubbornly ignoring all day long. "Ah… there's a breeze right now, stirring the trees. Sasuke is practicing tree walking… no, he's falling out of his tree and using language that would get him thrown out of most bars. Ouch."

"Where is he?" Kakashi-sensei asked, and I pulled an odd face.

"How the hell should I know what way I'm facing? He's that way, though," I added, pointing a little to the left. "About thirty, forty metres away. Um… not much by way of animal life. Most of it fled the noisy children. Although there's a pair of birds – smallish, probably about the size of a pigeon – maybe hundred fifty metres thataway." I pointed behind me. "Um… Inari just slammed his bedroom door again, and the breeze is picking up, I think – that funny hissing sound, I think that's the grass. I think that skittering sound about… a hundred metres that way _might _be a mouse. Pretty dumb mouse, that's a cat over there… and there's a flight of maybe a dozen birds going over…" I glanced up, forgetting that my eyes were closed. "Geese, I think. And there's an owl maybe fifty feet from Sasuke that might be thinking about moving…"

"Can you hear the ocean?"

"Sensei," I said patiently, "maybe you don't know this, but Wave is an _island. _That means it's a small landmass that's totally surrounded by water. That means the ocean is _everywhere. _It's a little faint that way, I might just be getting echoes from there and there, but I know it's about… three hundred metres that way. Oh, and Tsunami'll call us in for dinner soon."

Right on cue, the young woman called, her voice made slightly tinny by distance, "It's dinner time! Come and get it!"

I grinned and bounced to my feet, looking forward to food after wading through an annoying exercise and then dealing with my sensei turning weird on me again, but Kakashi-sensei asked me one last question before I could escape.

"How did you know she would be calling us in?"

Uncomfortably, I smiled. "I heard her setting the table," I responded, and ran for the house.

_

* * *

_

Kakashi's Log

_Sakura's control is above average, even for a kunoichi; possibly look into some ijutsu or genjutsu training for her in future. Her stamina, however, is atrocious. I had a word to her about dieting, but I don't think it got through. Darn hardheaded genin… I am now remembering why I didn't want to do this in this first place._

_Sasuke did about as well as predicted and is now improving steadily; however, he doesn't seem to be concentrating as well as he should – he appears to keep half an eye on Naruto most of the time. How long has this gone on for, and why? Needs further investigation – it makes no sense. He usually treats Naruto with utter contempt – he keeps pausing to tell Naruto off for not doing better. Naruto didn't appear to care much, either ignoring him or swearing at him. I may need to discourage this behaviour – based on their temperaments, it could get violent._

_Naruto is still particularly wary of this exercise, although his lack of aptitude perhaps proves it to be a justified wariness. Note: is he actually afraid of heights? He's been rather jumpy since we left Konoha, and it seems to be getting worse: he snapped at his teammates earlier, although admittedly they were asking for it. He did seem to calm down a little as he practised, but his chakra control is appalling – he fell and knocked himself out earlier._

_I also tested his hearing this afternoon, and I was right. He's hypersensitive to, as far as I can tell, all sound – he can hear almost everything within a three hundred metre radius, on a relatively calm day, down to plates clanking in an indoor kitchen at least a quarter of a kilometre away and a mouse at several hundred feet. I don't think he knows this is unusual – he kept giving me funny looks while I was testing him._

_At this level of sensitivity, I wouldn't consider it strange for particular sounds to cause him pain or to be overly distracting, but I haven't noted anything aside from the ocean to cause him to reac------_

Ink splashed over the page, and I winced, dodging back from the splatter. "Oops. Sorry, Sensei, I hope that wasn't important… but anyway! Did I pass?"

"…Pass?" My teacher sounded bemused. "Naruto, it's not a test it's exactly possible to _fail…_"

"Did I _pass_?" I repeated, tapping my plate.

He sighed heavily. "Yeah, you pass, your ears are hypersensitive, now go away."

"What test?" Sasuke asked, his words slightly jumbled by whatever he had stuffed in his mouth at the time.

I blinked at him, absently twirling my chopsticks in my hand and then dropping one of them. "Damn. Sensei went a bit weird earlier when I was training, said he was testing me for something… what does hypersensitive mean?"

"Che. Idiot." Sasuke's fingers drummed rapidly against the table. "It means your hearing is generally far sharper that normal, and you're overly aware of sounds most of us never pay attention to; some sounds that are normal to us would be painful to you. I think pitch has something to do with it as well, but I'm not exactly an expert in this area…"

"Wow, Sasuke! I didn't know any of that! That's amazing!" I flinched and clapped my hands over my ears, wishing briefly that I'd had the sense to sit further away from my squeal-prone fangirl of a teammate.

"Ah, Sakura, maybe you should tone it down a little," Sensei commented, his voice dampened by my protective hands.

"What? Why? What's wrong, Sensei?" It was a testament to her observation skills, or lack thereof, I growled mentally, that Sakura didn't notice her teammate trying to escape her increasingly strident voice. Sasuke's feet tapped mine under the table as he shifted down the bench away from her. _Make that teammate__**s.**_

"I think your voice is hurting him," Kakashi-sensei was explaining, and I cringed, waiting for her to swat me and tell me off (at top volume) for being melodramatic.

Instead there was a muffled murmur that I couldn't understand, and impulsively I pried one hand loose to listen, ready to clamp it back down at any second when she started shouting.

I was surprised to hear a soft whisper. "Is… does my voice actually hurt?"

Warily, I nodded, still ready to duck at a second's notice. "Not all the time," I amended, after a moment's thought. "Just when you get excited… or loud… your voice changes, and _that _hurts."

Sakura let out a squeak, and began to babble frantically. "Oh, I'm – I'm sorry, really! I didn't know I really _hurt _you! Oh, man, I'm sorry! I'm _so _sorry!"

She was getting gradually more and more high-pitched, and I winced. "It's – Sakura, it's fine, just – don't _shriek, _or, or raise your voice. Just normal talking is fine…"

My female teammate was near-hysterical with apologies to my total bemusement, but Sensei eventually managed to get her to calm down.

Tsunami's kid, Inari, I think his name was, suddenly slammed one fist down on the table, understandably getting everyone's attention. "I don't know why you're bothering," he snarled, but I'd heard scarier Academy students. "If you stand up to Gatou, you'll only get yourselves killed! No one survives defying him!"

I tipped my head curiously at Sasuke, who audibly shrugged, before voicing the idle question, "So you don't think we can do it? You think we should just forget the mission and go home?"

The kid made a noise that was a weird cross between a sneer and a choke that I'd never heard before. "Better than ending up dead!"

I leaned back slightly, already losing interest in the argument, and nearly ruined my dignity by falling off my chair. "You're pretty cynical for a kid," Sasuke observed, tapping my shin lightly under the table, and a faint tinge of disdainful amusement translated: _Nearly as bad as you_.

I surreptitiously stuck out my tongue at the Uchiha as Sakura commented, "Yeah, Sasuke-kun's right. Don't you believe in heroes, Inari?"

Another choking sound, although I recognised it this time _hot thick can't breathe _the kid was struggling with tears. "Heroes don't exist!" the brat snapped. "They're just ordinary people and they die like everybody else, like you will unless you give up!"

He bolted up the stairs – the seventh one still creaked – and slammed a door. As an awkward, tense silence descended on the room, I heard sandaled feet clapping against the wood upstairs. Tsunami let out a ragged sigh. "I'm sorry about Inari… he…"

The conversation died even before I silently escaped outside. I'd only get an hour or so before Sasuke dragged me back in, but that would still be an hour of undisturbed training that I sorely needed.

A low, growling chuckle echoed.

I frowned. _Mostly _undisturbed.

Kakashi-sensei sighed behind me, and I heard the soft squidge, barely audible even through the still-open door, as he started writing again.

_Why wasn't this in his medical file? If he had been properly tested this would be in there, and it's definitely serious enough for someone to have noticed._

_May need further investigation._

* * *

One-two-three-CRAK-thump.

One-two-three-four-fi-CRAK-THUMP!

"Ow," I grumbled as I rolled with my momentum and stood up. "I am getting way too good at that."

Dew had soaked eagerly into my jacket from its contact with the grass, and I shrugged it off to heap at the base of a tree. Sneaking out early for some pre-dawn training had been difficult, and was almost guaranteed to land me in trouble, but was depressingly necessary. My chakra control was _terrible. _It would take me _ages _to get this, and I'd need to spend every spare moment I had practising.

One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-CRAK-thud.

One-two-thud.

One-two-three-four-_BANG_-thud.

Stupid chakra.

I lay flat on my back for several seconds, gasping and wondering if I was just doing it wrong. That had happened before – I'd get the wrong idea on how a jutsu was done, and stubbornly forge ahead until someone figured it out and corrected me or I got the damn thing to work _my _way. The bizarre noises Sasuke made when he figured out why it took me so long to learn Henge…

But I was _pretty _sure I was on the right track this time. The right track just happened to be a dead end.

A faint whisper made me frown and lift my head off the ground – was that breathing I could hear? I might have passed it off as a random animal, except for the fact that anything with sense had run away from the racket I was making, so it was either something really hungry, which was bad, or human, which might be even worse.

"Who's there?" I said calmly as I stood up and glanced around reflexively, not letting my voice quiver with the thought of who might be out there. Sasuke would only sigh at my dawn training, but I didn't know the rest of my team well enough to guarantee their reactions.

The lack of response made my stomach twitch nervously, and I took a couple of deep breaths. "Alright then, if you're going to be difficult…"

The chakra I reached for came much more clearly than usual – I sensed the slow dullness of trees, grassy ripples, and the quickbeat of a flitting bird with the sharp clarity of the corners of a page unlike the usual hazy mess. I don't know _why _– I was exhausted, this should be downright impossible to manage at all – but since I could feel out that chakra source now, I wasn't going to pay common sense any attention whatsoever.

"It's awfully early to be out," a feminine _soft quiet curious? female about my age maybe friendly _voice remarked from the human chakra source. "I didn't think anyone else would be around."

I blinked slightly at the unfamiliar voice, settling my weight back on my heels. "I thought the same thing. Guess we were both wrong."

She laughed softly – a light chuckle, not quite a giggle – as she knelt nearby. Her chakra wasn't hidden, like I had first assumed, just so quiet, almost passive, that until I pinpointed her voice it blended into the background. Or maybe I was just tired – who knew. "Are you a ninja?" she asked curiously, her clothing shifting with faint rustles – she was probably looking at the destruction my chakra had been wreaking on the nearby trees.

"Uh-huh!" I said cheerfully, tapping the metal plate of my hitai-ate with one finger.

Very faint sound of slipping hair – her head tipping? "Is that why you're awake, with the sun barely up?"

"Yeah…" I laughed sheepishly, brushing hair away from my face. "I'm pretty much the only one out here this early, 'cos I need the practise. Out of my team, my chakra control – wait, you do know what chakra is, right?" I remembered to ask – not all civilians knew. But I heard her nod quickly, and grinned as I continued, "Well, my chakra control is kind of pathetic, really, so I need to train a hell of a lot more to keep up with the others."

"It sounds difficult," the girl said softly.

I shrugged. "That's life," I responded quietly, glancing away. "If you have to fight for every step, then so be it."

"That's an admirable streak of determination," the girl commented – was she fiddling with the grass? I heard her fingers pluck something up, the plant's roots tearing through the damp ground. "If… you don't mind me asking, what keeps you fighting so strong?"

It was my turn to tip my head to the side, this time in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Do you have any precious people?" she asked dreamily. "Who do you fight for?"

I blinked. "Precious people?"

"The people who you fight for," she replied. "The people who are your reason for fighting, even when it looks like there's no point."

Slowly, I frowned. _Well, duh, Sasuke and Ita- wait, not that last one, but definitely Sasuke, and – well, I always fought for him before, too, right? Does that mean he counts? Nii-san would have counted before – _I squashed the thought and nodded at the girl, trying to smile but probably failing, the memories she'd inadvertently dredged up making it harder than usual. "Yeah… I do," I whispered.

"Naruto! Hey, Naruto, where the hell are you?"

I couldn't help the grin as I tossed over my shoulder, "Coming, Sasuke!" before turning back to the girl. "It was nice meeting you! Maybe we'll see each other again someday!"

She giggled again. "It was nice meeting you, too, Naruto. I wish you luck in your training.

It wasn't until I'd caught up to Sasuke and was halfway back to the house for breakfast that I realised I'd forgotten to ask her name.

_

* * *

_

I was terrified. I'd been afraid many times, many more than I could clearly remember, but I had never been so scared as I was right now. A foot brushed past me and I scrambled away from it with a choked-back yelp, cracking my head against a wall I hadn't known was there. I knelt in the centre of the shrieking noise with frightened tears coursing down my face, hands clinging to my throbbing head, and as something else rushed past me, I bit back a scream and ran, barely thinking to hope whatever few shreds of luck I had would keep me from running headfirst into a fence.

_Something grazed my arm and I stumbled, my balance long gone – I was so dizzy – falling to the ground with a thump, feeling cold hard sidewalk under my cheek. I was gasping, every breath like a blast of cold against my throat; my head still burned fiercely, and I didn't think it was from the knock I'd gotten when I found that wall. My chest ached, and I dragged in another breath, shuddering with the effort as hot water wet my cheeks._

_I… I don't understand…_

Ice cold pain and red hot fear.

_I felt a glimmer of – something – gasped – shot to my feet and bolted again, the sharp edge of something catching my arm but I didn't care. I just ran, tears streaming down my face as my chest twisted painfully. It hurt, and my head hurt, and I was so scared and hurt and confused and I didn't have anywhere to go._

_Stumbling to a halt, I sank to my knees and curled up in a ball, chill wind whispering over my skin as I huddled miserably with my back to something uncaringly hard and quietly sobbed._

"_Who're you?"_

_I jerked back in shock and fear, not knowing someone had come close, so close to where I was huddled against something that felt like a tree – at least, that's what I thought it was. I gulped and did my best to glare at where the voice had come from, but if nothing else, the voice was small and young like mine, so its owner couldn't be very much bigger than me – if he tried to grab me I'd beat the stuffing out of him –_

"_And why are you here?"_

_I swallowed reflexively, dashing my sleeve over my eyes. He – or she? – didn't sound upset – just – curious. "I… where am I?"_

"_The Uchiha compound," the other child replied matter-of-factly._

_The Uchiha compound? Wow… how had I managed that?_

_The other child – at least I hoped it was a child, stayed silent, apparently waiting for an answer. I had never gotten a good response by telling someone my name, so I avoided that question, consciously or not I have never remembered. "I… I dunno. I was runnin', an' I just ended up here."_

_Maybe it was disinterest, maybe some form of childish intuition, but he didn't ask me what I was running from. He just sat there and stared at me, at least that's what I assumed he was doing – it's what I'd've done in his place. I sat still, struggling not to start crying again._

_I wasn't sure how long we'd been quiet for before my companion said, sounding a little hesitant, "My mom made cookies this morning. D'you want some?"_

_I looked up, startled at being offered food, although my stomach growled hopefully. I hadn't eaten since – since – I bit my lip, hadn't been able to find my way back. I didn't even know how long it had been – I couldn't tell anymore. The sun never rose; the sun never set. It had gotten very cold once since – since they – I swallowed, it was cold at night, had it been that long?_

When you stop and think about it, the strongest friendships are formed by food.

_Warmth, peace, and the feeling of a full stomach._

"_You've been hurt."_

_This was someone else. Bigger, stronger. And his voice was different – still sounding young, but so much older, so much more that I drew back warily, wanting to be ready to escape._

"_I'm fine."_

_My voice sounded hollow even to me. How could I do this? What could I do? Should I even do anything? Everything had been turned upside down, the ache in my chest rising in a piercing wave, and I didn't know what I was meant to do any more._

_The first child – I was more and more sure it was a young boy – chirped happily, "That's my big brother! He's the best!"_

Meeting the Uchiha brothers, I think, saved my life.

"_Who, me? I'm Sasuke! Nice to meetcha, Naruto!"_

I would never have made it this far without them.

_Safety. Knowing that someone cared._

'Tachi-nii was probably the main reason no one ever found me out. I mean, a village full of ninja – a blind child – how hard would it be for them to spot it?

But they never did.

_The door slid open abruptly and I jumped, almost falling off Sasuke's mattress, only to be gently pressed down to the floor by a broad hand, guided under the bed by 'Tachi-nii. "Eh? 'Tachi-nii, what's –?"_

"_Sh. Be still."_

_A faint creak as he sat on the bed; I flattened myself against the floor without question and went silent._

"_Itachi!"_

_I went stiff, frozen with horror. We hadn't known Fugaku was home!_

"_Itachi, where – ah."_

_Itachi shifted; the bed creaked as his weight moved a little more overhead of me._

"_Itachi, I had not finished –"_

_Sasuke interrupted with a peal of laughter and some violent squirming; 'Tachi-nii was tickling him._

"_Aniki, stop it!"_

"_Itachi!" Fugaku sounded… what was the word…? Frustrated._

"_Yes, Father." That seemed to be 'Tachi-nii's favourite sentence whenever he had to talk to his dad._

"_Itachi, I meant what I said before," Fugaku said warningly, and Itachi shifted slightly above me in the slight pause. "Sasuke is not to play with him, do you understand me?"_

"_I comprehend your words, Father," I heard 'Tachi-nii say neutrally, and frowned internally. What did _that _one mean…? 'Tachi-nii always used real big words when he talked to his dad…_

"_Good." The door slid open again. "Mark my words, Itachi, that boy will prove dangerous." And then the door slid shut. I couldn't hear Fugaku's footsteps – I never could – but I assumed he was moving away._

_I heard 'Tachi-nii murmur to Sasuke, "Oh my. A blind four-year-old. Whatever shall we do if we meet him in a dark alley?"_

_Sasuke giggled, and I let out a relieved breath of laughter, Itachi chuckling softly along._

For a long time, they were the sole reason I kept breathing.

"_Again."_

_I bit my lip, staring intently into the blackness that would never go away, and the sudden 'chank' made a flinch judder through me before I quickly hurled my weapon in the direction of the sound. There was no replying sound, and I scowled, crossing my arms and ducking my head to hide my miserable expression. I was _never _gonna get this._

"_Again."_

'_Chank.' I didn't move. What was the POINT? This was stupid, why'd I ever thought I could do it…_

"_I said again, Naruto-kun."_

'_Chank.' I flashed him a bitter scowl and threw._

'_Chank.'_

_I stiffened with shock, staring blindly at the tree I had just heard the answering sound of kunai meeting wood from. Not one of Itachi's throws, the ones meant to give me a reference, but _mine. _I'd hit the tree!_

_Whooping, Sasuke nearly bowled me over, and I quickly scrambled away from him. He was gabbling excitedly and almost cheering, he was so happy, and it didn't make much sense to me at all. Sasuke was much better than I was – even at six, he was a good marksman. Even 'Tachi-nii said so. Grudgingly. If we bugged him for an hour._

_He sure didn't have to throw fifty times to hit the target just once._

_But I felt an insane grin stretching my own face all the same, because I'd done it._

_Maybe… maybe I could do this, after all._

'Tachi-nii wasn't just Sasuke's big brother. He was mine, too.

"_Yowch!"_

"_The spoon keeps tipping! You gotta hold it steady!"_

"_How can I do that if I can't even see it?"_

_Tachi-nii broke up the impending squabble easily. "Naruto, you need to feel the edges of your spoon and hold it horizontally from the ground. That will stop you from spilling the soup."_

_Four-year-old understanding stuttered to a halt. "Uhn-wha?"_

_A sigh. Warm hands over mine, carefully steering my spoonful of soup towards my mouth. "Hold it like that. Keep it level…"_

"_Ow!"_

"_Doesn't food go in your mouth?"_

"_Now, otouto, be nice…"_

Both of them were my best friends, even if the rest of the Uchiha Clan hated me. They were always on my side. I think, maybe, that's why it hurt so much when he turned against us.

"_It's… real quiet out here, tonight," Sasuke said nervously, his voice just a little tight with anxiety._

_I was already on edge, the breeze tugging at my clothing and bringing with it a feeling of inescapable uneasiness that brought a sour taste to the back of my mouth. It took me too long to place the ghost of a memory the wind played with, and I swallowed, the scent bittering in my next frightened breath._

"'_Suke… I smell blood…"_

_Then darkness. Cold. The smell of blood so thick and choking I'd never forget the scent again. Adrenaline flaring, sharp breaths burning, screams I never wanted to hear – and the shocked, ice-cold pain of something torn apart._

_I don't understand…_

_Itachi-nii-san…_

_Why did you do it?_

_**RUN, SASUKE!**_

I jerked upright with a stifled cry of pain. It took me a few minutes of frantic tugs to extricate my wrist from the tangled blankets, and my struggles had wound the sheets around my legs in a smothering cocoon that was easier to wriggle out of than unwind. Eventually, I escaped my bed linen and slipped onto the porch, cool night breeze rapidly chilling the sweat on my skin.

I was trembling, and gasping, air damp and cold against the back of my throat. The rough solidness of wood under my feet and palms was locking me back in the present and the painful memories back in their box, coarse splintery ridges contours of pressure. The wind stopped tasting of blood; my ears stopped ringing with screams. I shuddered, and crumpled against the post on the corner, leaning against it for support as I fought to stop the shaking.

_Just a dream…_

_Just a dream._

_**Don't lie to yourself, you little fool.**_

I shuddered again, mind ringing with the remembered cutting words, and almost missed the soft scrape of the door behind me opening again.

"Naruto?"

I relaxed once more, closing my eyes and looking away from where he had just slipped outside. Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I gasped another breath, the pain in my chest slowly loosening, but didn't otherwise respond.

"'Ruto, you okay?"

I sighed quietly. "Just a bad dream."

He didn't say anything, but I could sense the question anyway, and glanced back in the direction of the door with a tired half-smile. "It's alright, 'Suke. Just memories that don't seem to want to stay that way."

He didn't say anything further, just moved up to stand beside me on the porch, the wind teasing at our hair. I was calmer now, calm enough that I didn't jump when his fingers lightly brushed my exposed forearm, instead readjusting my weight so that I was leaned on his shoulder instead of the corner-y post.

_I don't understand…_

For all he was an Uchiha, Itachi had been part of my family, too.

'_Tachi-nii…_

Despite the common sense that told me he'd never be back to the same older brother I'd known…

_Why…_

_Why did you do it?_

…I missed him.

* * *

Japanese Definitions:

**-nii:** This isn't grammatically correct; it's the slang form of sorts of the suffix 'nii-san', which is shortened from 'onii-san', which indicates that a person is an older brother (or is regarded as close enough to be an older brother).

**Ijutsu**: I may well have this one wrong, as I only have two reference sources for it and one of them's not reliable, but I'm fairly sure it's the broad term for medical jutsu.

**Otouto:** Little brother. Itachi is famous for using this one for Sasuke all the freaking time.

**Aniki:** As far as I can tell, another version of 'older brother', noun form rather than suffix. If anyone can give me an exact definition I'd appreciate it.

Concept of the Day: **Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji**

Japanese writing doesn't use the same script as English – script means letters, alphabet, by the way – like French and Indonesian do, and actually has three different 'alphabets'. They use characters called 'hiragana' for general use; each character represents a different syllable, like ka, ki, ho, mu and be. This way of organising their lettering is part of why Japanese is such a syllabic language.

'Katakana' are different characters generally representing the same syllables as hiragana (some slightly more foreign sounds are represented as well). They are generally less complicated, blocky, and 'childish'. So if you've seen Japanese symbols that refuse to appear on hiragana charts (like me), they're probably just katakana and you're confusing yourself.

Kanji are the most complicated, with each character representing a different word. Japanese people spend most of their schooling learning their kanji, so forgive me if I don't know a lot of them. Kanji are also pictorial, most of them having originated from an image that was later stylised into the symbol we have now. Hence why it's so confusing. And complicated. The pronunciation, however, follows the same style as hiragana and katakana.


	8. Through The Fire

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…

(sweatdrops) This wasn't supposed to be a hard chapter to write… hell, it was _easy, _compared to some other stuff I've been working on. And yet, I got so stuck I had to get _Twin1 _to write the last half of it for me because I'd developed such an appalling block. So if the style of the story changes, sorry, but we did our best.

Dedicated to Twin1, for obvious reasons.

Warning: I have noticed that it's about here that I have stopped censoring the swearing. My apologies to anyone it offends, but this IS rated 'T'.

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* * *

**

Eight: Through The Fire

"S-Sasuke?" I panted, eyes flickering around the chakra-enclosed space, trying to get my senses to get a grip on my surroundings and feeling freezing air wafting off the chakra that I could only sense as a wall of blurred energy. "I – I can't – it's solid, the sounds bounce, it's all a blur."

"Just stay close to me," he gasped out, stepping closer, his footsteps echoing against the stone and making my unsteady perception waver uncertainly. I couldn't pin down where I was or where our enemy was, couldn't even tell how big the dome was. It was disconcerting, more even than stepping blindly onto a road I didn't know, and I moved until I stood close at Sasuke's heels, straining my ears to try and hear something, _anything, _that would help.

How had things gotten so bad this quickly? One minute it was a fairly normal day – albeit weird, thanks to Sensei pulling us from tree-climbing to 'help guard Tazuna' – and the next, there was shock-cold mist everywhere, sticky blood slicking the floor, Zabuza at Kakashi-sensei's heels and another random ninja on me and Sasuke's!

"Just stick close," my friend repeated, his clothing shifting as he moved lower to the ground, me copying him straight away. "We're gonna be okay, Naruto, I promise. We'll be okay. Just hang in there."

His fingers brushed faintly against each other as he formed handseals, and his chakra began to flare out – "Goukaykyuu no Jutsu!"

Heat exploded all around the dome, and I immediately guessed at its size from the range of the fire that I could feel, getting something about fifteen to twenty metres across – but I couldn't tell how far up it went, or how thick the outer wall was. There was a hiss of steam – _water? Boiled off from the splashes on the bridge – _and Sasuke gasped slightly.

"That won't work," said a vaguely feminine voice – kind of familiar, actually, but I had more important things to worry about. "These mirrors won't melt under that kind of firepower."

"What?" I whispered, frowning as my mind connected everything I had heard. _Melt – hiss – water – mirrors – __**ice**__! That explains the cold!_ Mirrorsof ice, Sasuke had tried to melt them, but they were – they were the walls, they were shielded and bolstered with the chakra that was blocking my full senses, they wouldn't melt from just Goukakyuu –

I cried out as pain suddenly rippled across my front, the force of the blow – _no blow_s_ many ow fuck that hurt – _sending me flying backwards and landing flat on the ground, Sasuke slamming down next to me a half-second later. "What the fuck was that?" I gasped out, shaking my head violently. I had barely, _barely _caught that, the tiniest waver of chakra before I was sent flying.

"Where is he?" Sasuke growled, pulling himself to his feet. "The real body – where's he hiding?"

"It's useless to try to keep up with me with your eyes," the voice said, coming from everywhere at once – like a whole lot of clones, all speaking at the same time – but this was too sharp and precise for clones, they were always a little out of beat – what was going on? "I won't be caught so easily."

"W-what should we do?" I asked, standing up slowly and turning my head blindly, trying to get a lock on a chakra source that wavered slightly like it was moving, but was too solid to be. It was honestly like he was coming from everywhere at once.

Sasuke swallowed, gasping nervously. "Just stay close to me," he ordered. "We'll be okay, Naruto, don't worry."

I gasped in a breath, the cold searing my mouth and nose and throat and chest and _so loud _rasping over my tongue and my heart was thundering and – _where was Sasuke? _The chakra around me was echoing, shifting a wall of white noise cold loud can't see can't hear what's going on Sasuke where are you –

"Naruto move!" I heard him shout, and reflexively threw myself to the side. Flashes of chakra and flashes of energy and flashes of hot and cold cold so deep and harsh and freezing it burned sharper than fire and pricks of force that exploded in shocking bursts of pain as I crashed heavily to the concrete floor of the bridge. Hot liquid was starting to soak my jacket, but I barely registered it, throwing myself away in response to another of Sasuke's shouts – clinking – _deflecting? _– and then blood rushed through my ears as adrenaline took over and everything smashed together in a frenzy of unfamiliar sound.

I heard vague swearing, dropped to the floor, tiny prickles of pain that vanished almost instantly, tried to scramble to my feet, tried to _hear, _everything echoing and rippling and that chakra signature's annoying insubstantial wavering –

"I do not want to fight you…"

_That makes two of us, _I thought, a little hysterically, finally getting my own feet under me again and backing away from where I _thought _I'd heard the voice coming from – but with all the echoes it was so hard to tell, I couldn't see, couldn't _hear Sasuke where are you–?_

"I don't… I do not wish to kill you," the voice continued, hauntingly familiar, but I shoved it away in favour of dodging the next flurry of attacks, yanking a few of the needles from where they'd landed – senbon that explain the pricks – "It is difficult for me to be a shinobi. I… do not want to kill you… and I do not want to be killed by you…"

Sasuke brushed against my arm and I almost collapsed with relief – or was that blood loss? – and slipped into place a half-step behind him as we circled the walls radiating sheer cold. My friend was keeping our opponent busy – I could hear them exchanging words (no weaponry thank god), though I was too preoccupied to pay attention – while I searched frantically for a gap in the coldness, a weakness or fault that we could escape through.

I had just determined that there were no slips in the wall of icy chakra when senbon skittered near my feet and I sprang away reflexively, spinning to face where they had come from – but just a split second later there was a flicker from behind me and I dropped to the floor, skidding to the side and regaining my feet as rapidly as I could, scrambling away and struggling to keep my bearings – I'd lost Sasuke again, and everything was flashing and flickering with chakra and splashes of ice cold water.

"Impressive…"

Sasuke hissed sharply from just in front of me, and I latched onto the sound, my mind swirling and focusing and suddenly I could _hear _again, the world clearing fast. "Impressive?" my friend snarled. "You're beating us around like so much driftwood and that's supposed to be _impressive?_" Ah, Sasuke's temper was beginning to kick in. He was usually quiet – up until you pissed him off. I had discovered this inclination at the tender age of four years, two months, and have never forgotten it.

"You are surviving… this in itself is no small feat…" Sasuke snarled again – "But further… the blonde one… you have done well to come this far, in your condition. I have never before seen a successful ninja who could not see."

My heart stopped.

Sasuke's warm chakra and body heat moved closer to me in response, while I sucked in a horrified, shocked breath.

Eight years, eight long, difficult years, and no one had ever figured it out, except for this one person.

Sasuke and his brother, I'd told them, but this person – this _enemy _– figured it out all. On. His. Own.

And that scared me to hell.

"It was hard to see at first," our opponent continued, "but now… it is clear to me. You move like a child in the dark, only half sure that you're not about to stumble upon a piece of furniture. You rely on senses that my Demonic Mirrors technique scrambles. You are… an amazing person, to have survived this far. But now, I fear I cannot allow this to continue. I must protect the person I hold dear."

Sasuke's sleeve brushed my arm, the cold ice that had formed along it making my skin prickle.

"Please don't hold it against me… He is the only reason I fight. I fight for the sake of his dream, because I want to make that dream a reality. His dream… is my own. And for the sake of that dream, I will kill my heart and become a true shinobi! If I must… I _will _kill you!"

"Oh fuck," I muttered, and then bolted on Sasuke's heels, zigzagging closer and away in a mad attempt to throw off the ice-user. Stabbing pain in my back and shoulders told me it wasn't working, but it wasn't as frequent as before, even as I slipped and skidded on half-melted ice and very nearly lost my balance. Then I really _did _lose my balance as someone screamed.

"Was that Sakura?" Sasuke murmured from above and to the left of where I was sprawled on the ground.

"It sounded like Inari's mother, actually," I said, lifting my head.

"Nah, it's just echoing funny. Sensei left shadow clones to watch the house, you told me. It's gotta be Sakura."

A smattering of needle-pricks across my shoulder blades reminded me that sitting still and gossiping wasn't smart. I heaved myself upright, wondering how much more of this we could take.

Sasuke was doing something now – I didn't know what. He was shouting, there was heat, his chakra was surging – oh. He was breathing fire again. I felt panic climbing up my throat as I realised how out of touch I was, how the mirrors and the revelation that this person knew my secret was affecting me. It was just like several days earlier, when I had gotten lost in the sound of the ocean, only a hundred thousand times worse, because this time as I floundered, I could still perceive enough to know that Sasuke and I were in great danger, that Sasuke was getting hurt.

Something connected solidly with my shoulder and I went flying to the left, landing hard and rolling several times. Sasuke gave a grunt that hid pain and, with another wave of crackling heat and flickering chakra, shot off another stream of fire. From the direction the noises were coming in, I guessed he was standing directly where I had been.

It took a moment for my scrambled mind to connect the dots, and I pulled myself together and focused just on doing that, clinging to the single lifeline I had keeping me from slipping into the suffocating darkness that always lingered around me.

My breath caught when I realised – _Sasuke had_ – Sasuke had shoved me aside, out of the way of an attack, and had taken the blow himself as a consequence. I could hear the echoing voice of our enemy, hear him speaking to Sasuke, something about precious people – and for some reason, the phrase tugged at a string in my memory. I shook the feeling aside: it was unimportant.

I focused on my senses, closing my eyes uselessly to give me a sort of psychological aid – a trick I had learnt a long time ago from a teenager I had thought of as a brother.

Okay. I was on my stomach on the wet ground, the wooden planks of the half-finished bridge cold underneath me. Sasuke was off to my right and a little behind me, fending off an attack that seemed to come from all sides at once, though whether that was true or I just couldn't pinpoint its origin, I had no idea. To my left…

Well, to my left, I could sense a wall of some kind, blocking airflow and radiating cold – the ice, part of the ice dome the enemy had created.

I was near the edge of the dome.

No-one's eyes were on me.

I could get out.

Not taking a single second to think it through further, I acted on the impulse, jerking my legs up underneath me and dashing for the small gap I knew there had to be right _there_, because there was a slight breeze and _air didn't flow through ice_. If I managed to slip out of this bastard's Ring of Icy Doom, I might be able to attack from outside. Or at least drag Sensei's arse over here to rescue us. Wasn't that his _job_, anyway?

I had barely gone two steps before something collided solidly with my stomach and carried me backwards a few yards – someone moving fast had got me a good one in the gut. The someone disappeared, but not before I caught a whiff of the gentle scent of soap and herbs hanging around the attacker.

I was so shocked I went limp and forgot to line up a landing.

"Don't think I have forgotten you, little one," the feminine voice of our tormentor said. "There is no escape from this place."

I heard Sasuke skid through a puddle on the ground just in time to throw up his arms and catch me, and we both tumbled over in a tangled heap as he was unable to absorb the shock of my fall.

"Idiot!" he shouted, probably more out of fear and habit than any real urge to insult me. "You moron, dobe!"

I wasn't listening: I was too busy staring sightlessly up in the vague direction of where I last knew our enemy to be. "You!" I gasped. "The girl from the woods!"

"What?" Sasuke hissed sharply – _oh, yeah, I hadn't told him about her; whoops _– but the girl just chuckled. Was it just me, or did she sound sad?

"I am male, little one," she – no, he – said gently. "But yes, I met you in the woods. My name is Haku. How did you recognise me?"

"You smell," I grumbled, shoving Sasuke's arm off my midriff and clambering to my feet. "What the hell is your deal? You seemed nice enough _then_."

There was a long pause, before Haku answered softly. "I am sorry," he said, his words heavy in the frigid air. "I must end this now. My precious person is in danger. Forgive me."

– Sasuke gave a wordless shout –

– I was once again shoved aside –

– Air whizzed as if something was slicing through it, like a kunai only much smaller, slicker, faster –

– Several quiet _think _noises, of something sharp and slim striking flesh with a deadly accuracy –

– Sasuke's breath exploded from him in a surprised _whoosh_, leaving his lungs empty, and I strained to hear the gasp inwards that would refill them, only to panic when I couldn't –

– There was a much heavier _thump_, and my mind pieced together that Sasuke had collapsed –

– And then my world ended.

Where Sasuke had been only a moment ago, there was nothing, just _void void void_ – no heart thumping noisily in his chest, no breaths that he had learnt to quiet for me when I complained of his breathing keeping me up at nights, no movement I could hear. I could smell blood faintly through the mist, and felt my own heart stop, the darkness swirling around me, fire moving in my gut in response to my waning control.

I stumbled a few steps and sank down on my knees with a low moan, for now forgetting that I was in a battle, for now forgetting that I was probably an inch from death myself, forgetting that Sensei and Sakura were still out there. Nothing else mattered right then.

I buried my hands in Sasuke's shirt, fumbling a little as I underestimated where he was lying, feeling desperately for any sign of life.

There was nothing. He was gone.

With a whimper, I buried my face in his chest, vaguely aware of something thin and long pricking me at various spots – senbon, maybe? Had he been killed by a fucking _needle_?

Haku was speaking. "Is this the first time you have lost a comrade in battle?" he asked gently. He probably said more, but I didn't hear it. There was a roaring in my ears, drowning him out. The pain in my chest, the knowledge that I'd lost my only link to the world too hard to accept, and I swam backwards, using the darkness as a blanket now to hide under, swathing myself in it.

Sasuke hadn't just been my best friend, my brother. He'd been my eyes, my hope and my crutch. How was I going to keep limping on without him?

In the back of my mind, further than I could retreat, I felt an angry presence pushing forward, and I turned into it blindly, fiery energy licking my face and hands, wanting it all, wanting the _pain_ to just _stop. _The raging fire swirled and danced and spun tightly around me and the fury of the barely-controlled storm shielded the silence.

_Kyuubi…? I… I can't… Kyuubi… don't…_

**Let me handle this, little human.**

Then the feeling of an immense vehement inferno rushed through my very blood as I lost control.

I have no idea what happened next: all I knew was a rush of fire, fire that burned but at the same time felt good, fire that drained away the anger, that filled me up and like a drug consumed me. It took away the ache in my chest, distracted me from it.

When I next became aware, I was sitting on the bridge, the wind whistling around me, tugging at my hair. Not in the ice dome, then.

Something was sticking to my skin, something liquid but viscous and tangy with a coppery smell hanging about it. It took me a moment to place the smell, and a wave of nausea flooded me when I realised that it was _blood_ soaking my shirt through and drenching my arms, my chest, even dripping down my face from my hair. As far as I could tell, I was sitting in a pool of the stuff, but I wasn't injured at all, and Sasuke – he hadn't been hurt like this.

As I thought the name of my best friend, by gut clenched horribly. _Sasuke_.

Blindly, I began to cast about, trying to find some landmark, some indicator of where I was. I had to find him.

I was on the bridge still, I was sure of that. There was no mistaking the sound of the ocean below, the feel of the slick wood beneath me. I stood carefully, testing every limb and muscle for damage before I trusted my weight to it, and looked around, my broken eyes mimicking a scanning glance out of sheer habit. I listened as hard as I could: no echoing whispers, no women screaming, no insults being thrown. I registered the sound of people – possibly a battle – a distance away, still on the bridge, and guessed that Sensei was there. If he was roughly where he had been before my blackout, I was too. Roughly. So all I had to do was find –

"Dobe."

I froze. The word was tense, standoffish, with none of the usual warmth and affection attached to it, but there was no mistaking it. "S-Sasuke?" I stuttered, disbelieving. "B-but you're dead! Haku k-_killed_ you!"

"Paralysed me," Sasuke's voice came again, and this time I used it to begin the process of locating him, turning towards the noise and taking a tentative step forward. He was only a few metres away. "Senbon can, if used properly, induce a state that mimics death. Remember, dobe?"

I paused, confused by the venom in his tone. "What's… wrong?" I asked, bewildered. When he next spoke, I could tell from his tone that if I was close enough, if I touched his face I would find a wry twist on his lips.

"You don't know, do you?" he said. "You can't remember the last five, ten minutes, can you?"

I wanted to deny it, something in his tone _warned_ me to deny it, but I couldn't lie, not to Sasuke.

"No," I admitted, taking a step towards my friend.

"You just went absolutely _nuts_," Sasuke growled. "You were completely out of control."

I bit my lip, stepping forwards again. A rustle of clothes indicated that Sasuke had stepped backwards, and hurt flashed through me. It must have shown on my face, because Sasuke sighed heavily and moved forwards again, sandals thumping softly on the wooden walkway. I felt his hand on my shoulder, a tentative, gentle force, and I choked on a sob and reached out to grab hold of him, the gravity of what had happened finally sinking in.

For a long moment, Sasuke let me cling to him, even though he was probably disgusted with the blood passing from my body to his. "I thought you had learnt to avoid these… insane moments," he said eventually. I took a shuddering breath and promptly hid in his shoulder.

"I lost control. I'm sorry," I said. "I'm sorry! You were – S'uke, you were _dead_ and I just – I just – fuck, S'uke, who's blood is this? What did I do?"

"You didn't hurt anyone but the bastard trying to kill us," Sasuke assured me. "Kakashi killed the other one – Zabuza. Then a bunch of losers turned up, but one look at you scattered them pretty well."

I cringed. "Sensei? Sakura?" I whispered, very afraid of the answer. I felt the muscles through Sasuke's body twitch as he shrugged.

"Sensei looked like he noticed something. Sakura was dragging the bridge builder away: probably didn't see or sense anything," he said. Then, something gave, something softened, and he brought one arm up to hug me back roughly. "I'm glad you're okay," he said, very quietly. Then, louder, "You're really back in control now, right?"

I considered, shoving at the ever-present demon in my mindscape, making sure he was buried as well as I could manage, and nodded. Sasuke grunted. "Good," he said. "Keep it that way. Dobe."

The word was what pushed me over the edge: suddenly, I was back to normal. I drew away from my friend and swept my hand over my eyes quickly, before grinning in his direction. Gone was the caustic sting behind the insult, returned was the affectionate meaning it usually held. Everything was okay between us. The stupid demon's stupid outing hadn't damaged anything.

"Teme!"

_

* * *

_

Kakashi's Log:

_We had our first large-scale fight today. Everyone did very well. Sakura protected the client (like the genin were _all_ supposed to do) and I took on Zabuza._

_He is dead now._

_The boys scuffled with Zabuza's protégé, a child by the name, according to Naruto, of Haku. Around the kids' age._

_He is dead, too, but I didn't kill him._

_Neither boy will tell me what happened, but I know that Kyuubi, or at least his chakra, was involved. I could sense it, the moment it appeared. For a moment, I was afraid Kyuubi had been released. When I saw Naruto a few minutes later, I thought the demon had taken control. Naruto's eyes were bright red, and he lo__oked… feral, somehow. Animal._

_He killed Haku._

_After the fight, he was covered in blood, but seemed to have no notion of how it got there. He complained of being a little nauseous, but otherwise felt fine. He acted… normal. Laughing, teasing Sasuke, nothing seemed to have changed. When I questioned him about the fight, he was able to explain in detail the first portion of his battle, until Sasuke was rendered unconscious. After that, he claims to have no memory of how the fight concluded or what happened to his enemy. _

_I do not think he remembers his first kill. Kami, I hope I'm right._

_Sasuke was a little battered, but the battle was well worth it for him, as he has activated his Sharingan. I'll have to spend some time teaching him how to use it properly when we return home._

_Sasuke didn't seem to notice anything different or wrong with Naruto during the fight. Sakura was well out of a direct line of sight of Naruto, so she was none the wiser, but I have no way of knowing if Sasuke saw or sensed the demonic chakra or if he was unconscious the entire time. I will have to watch him and make sure he is pulled aside and either fed a part truth or a deflecting story if he shows any signs that he saw Naruto in his state of less than perfect control._

_Tomorrow we head home. I want to start Sakura on some chakra building exercises – she has good control, but abysmal stores. Kinda the polar opposite to Naruto, actually._

_I'__m frightened for Naruto. If this gets to the Council, there is no telling what they could do to Naruto. (NB: have to 'forget' to include it in my official report.)_

_If the seal is failing…_

_(NB: have Jiraiya check the seal over.)_

_If Kyuubi were to escape…_

_(NB: have Jiraiya check the seal over really, _really_ well.)_

_I wonder what Minato-sensei would do._

* * *

Japanese Definitions:  
Amazingly, I think we avoided adding in any new terms in this chapter. Woot for us.

Techniques:  
The only new one introduced here is Haku's **Demonic Ice Mirrors** or **Makyō Hyō Shō** (or Makyou Hyou Shou), and it was never actually named in the chapter. It's a bloodline technique, which implies that ice is not a normal 'element' to manipulate, and encircles an opponent with multiple sheets of ice that are so polished they act as mirrors. Haku can enter the mirrors from the outside and travel between them almost instantaneously, throwing his senbon along the way, and remaining basically untouchable. The mirrors are made of ice, but are imbued with enough chakra to be highly resistant to fire techniques.

Canon:  
Anyone who has issues with exactly how I've mangled canon and why I've missed stuff, don't bother flaming. Go back, reread the chapter and apply some common sense; I DID explain everything, I just left a lot of it up to imagination because, as I warned you earlier (_much _earlier), canon bores me. And is probably the reason this chapter took so long. Hugs for Twin1.


	9. Separation

A/N: …well, the wait wasn't too bad this time, right?

I have a request for anyone who actually bothers to read the author's notes. If, while you are reading, you spot a spelling error or typo in my work, would someone _please _inform me? I was just rereading chapter seven (no, you really don't want to know why) and I found a couple of extremely embarrassing errors that I should have spotted before and was _not happy _to find in the final draft.

Finished at approximately three in the morning, so forgive me if there's an error or two.

Dedicated to iluvromance909, and if you guys visit her profile, you'll see why.

* * *

**Nine: Separation**

_**Attention**__: Sandaime Hokage_

_**Memo**__: Requesting three separate missions assigned instead of one. Required to test individual capabilities._

_Signed,_

_Hatake Kakashi_

_

* * *

_

_**Attention**__: Hatake Kakashi_

_**Memo**__: Request granted. See the missions desk for possible assignments – no doubt you've already got something in mind._

_Signed,_

_Sandaime Hokage_

* * *

It was somewhat of a relief to be sitting with my back against the railing of the wooden bridge, the quiet rippling of the stream under the planks a soft whisper compared to the all-encompassing roar of the ocean. The bird calls fluttering through the wind were all familiar ones again, none of the unexpected keens and whoops that had ground on my nerves while we were away.

It was good to be home.

The rest of my team (minus our teacher, of course) was waiting in the morning sunshine, the light warm on my face as it cleared the ridge. I was a little bored, but listening to Sakura desperately trying to gather the courage to ask Sasuke out on a date was amusing. She'd managed to stammer her way through half an overture when Sensei appeared, and in the rush of air I nearly missed Sasuke's sigh of relief.

"Good morning!" Kakashi-sensei chirped, and I found myself mentally comparing his voice to the birds twittering in a shrub nearby.

"You're _late,_" Sakura snarled, sounding furious at being interrupted. I shuffled into a deeper slouch, uninterested in our teacher's excuse (I heard something about a bookstore and immediately stopped listening. They were well-known, our teacher's bad reading habits).

I started listening when Sasuke's foot tapped my railing. I don't know what I'd do without him – he was always the one who kicked me awake in class. Wave had been far too close.

**I have never understood your propensity for dwelling on what could have been. It did not happen. Cease considering it.**

I didn't have time to spare the suggestion more than an eyeroll before all my attention focused on what my teacher was saying.

"Sakura, you're going to be helping out at the hospital today; the boys are working on something else, so you'll have to have a quick talk to the head doctor to get an idea of what they need you for."

She made a startled sound of protest, and Sensei – I swear he gets weirder every day – said, "Shoo. Shoo-shoo."

I couldn't help choking with laughter, and nearly fell off the bridge as Sakura walked hesitantly away, pausing every few seconds like she wasn't sure if she'd get called back or not. Sasuke's hand on my collar stopped me from getting extremely wet. "Che. You're such an idiot." _Be more careful._

Already Sakura's absence was obvious, a combination of the loss of her now-familiar chakra and the quiet following her usual racket. "So whatcha want us for, Sensei?" I asked cheerfully. "Boys-only mission or something?"

"Or something," Sensei agreed in a too-light voice, and I sat up a bit straighter, suspicious.

"What kind of something?" Sasuke asked from above me, moving a little closer.

"The fun kind, of course!"

"Crap," we chorused gloomily.

Kakashi didn't seem to notice our distinct lack of enthusiasm; if he did, he was doing a very good job of ignoring it. "Sasuke, the mother of the Hanasaki triplets wants to go to the markets today without the children; you need to watch the three of them for a few hours."

I shuddered, and stood up, dusting myself off. The Hanasaki triplets were little brats, although at the very least it was unlikely to turn into another Wave. A resigned 'hn' from Sasuke gave his agreement to that thought _(at least it's not Wave) _and I stifled a grin, turning towards the Konohan streets.

I didn't get far.

"Now, Naruto, where are you off to?" Kakashi-sensei asked lightly, and I froze, a ball of ice forming in my stomach. Sasuke had stopped moving too, and he stepped a little closer to me. No matter what Sensei threw at us, we knew there was safety in numbers.

Sensei shifted, and there was the dry rustle of paper on paper. "Naruto, you need to run messages to a few people." He passed me a handful of envelopes, three of which I promptly dropped, still not fully comprehending what he was asking of us.

"But… Sensei…" I said slowly, collecting the envelopes that had escaped.

He ignored me entirely. "Well, you both have your assignments! Hop to it!"

…_He was splitting us up?_

"Come on, no time to waste," he urged, clapping a hand on my shoulder and making me flinch as he pushed me away from my friend. "Your messages are getting cold, Sasuke's charges are escaping…"

I twisted around in his grip instantly, trying to check on the Uchiha, and was shoved firmly in the back, making me stumble and nearly drop the letters again. "Come on, Naruto, get moving," he said sternly. I glared in his direction before breaking into a trot. The sooner I started, the sooner I'd finish.

My heart was thundering in my ears, blood pulsing disturbingly in the fingers clenched around the paper notes, and I realised dimly that I was shaking a split second before I tripped over the kerb.

_Okay, I need to calm down, _I thought, gasping for air. _Sasuke might be stuck on his own with the triplets of doom, but I have got absolutely no reason to panic… oh, what the hell am I doing? Who the hell are these letters for, anyway? Damn sensei, he's probably trying to save on postage…_

It took me several seconds, and more than one pass of my sensitive fingers, to decipher Kakashi-sensei's calligraphy: _Maito Gai._

_Isn't that…? On yeah, Squad Nine's teacher, I remember now. _I shuddered again, and then sighed. The easiest way to find him would be to _listen…_

Like I'd told my team on that weird blindfolded mission, Rock Lee was bad; his teacher was worse. Tracking him down was far from hard, although as I fumbled through the trees _(I know this area, dammit!) _I felt a stabbing pain developing in my head, spreading from my eardrums. _For heaven's sake… why is he so noisy?_

He was running Squad Nine through a series of numbered drills. I had no idea what said drills entailed, but currently they were running laps as their teacher gave a speech on hard work and the "Flames of Youth".

I revised my opinion of Kakashi-sensei slightly. He was weird, but at least not clinically so like this nutcase.

"Maito-sensei?" I called to get his attention, only to cringe and cover my ears as he turned towards me.

"GOOD MORNING, YOUNG SHINOBI!! YOU ARE ONE OF MY ETERNAL RIVAL KAKASHI'S STUDENTS, ARE YOU NOT?! HOW MAY I HELP YOU THIS FINE MORNING!?!"

My eyes were watering; despite my attempt at protection, a driving ache rang straight through my ears and drove twin spikes of pain through either side of my head. It took me a few seconds to swallow the agonised whine in the back of my throat to choke out, "P-please, Maito-sensei, not so – not so loud – it hurts." I tried for an apologetic grin.

"My apologies, young genin." I was relieved to hear a normal volume of voice from him, and cautiously pried my hands from my ears, swiping surreptitiously at my eyes. "I am most sorry that my voice was causing you pain," he continued seriously. "Such behaviour is most unyouthful."

My headache was fading already, and I managed a better imitation of a smile this time. "It's – it's okay, sir. It's just me – Sensei says my hearing's hypersensitive, so loud noises really hurt."

"I would still apologise for causing you pain. It was not my intention. Now, for what do you require my assistance?"

I sighed quietly – _so many big words – _and explained, "Sensei has me running messages, and your name was the first one I could read." I held out the paper envelope, the paper almost-sleek against my fingers in a way envelopes usually weren't. Handmade or just good quality…?

"Thank you, young shinobi," Gai said seriously as he took the letter, and I relaxed minutely, putting both hands back on my little pile. "I can see you have other duties to complete, so I will keep you no longer, young shinobi. Good luck on your quest for my eternal rival Kakashi!"

He'd started getting a bit loud at the end, making me thankful I'd been backing away the whole time. I bobbed my head in a quick bow, trying for respectful, before escaping back into the forest, the sound of Gai's shouting starting up again as he 'encouraged' his genin.

Okay, one down. That wasn't so bad. I could do this. I could do this. "Ow," I grumbled, rubbing my cheek from where I had just walked into a tree. "Okay, next envelope… what the hell does _this _say?"

Sensei's handwriting was still nearly impossible to decipher – seriously, I will never again complain about textbooks – but I managed to figure it out eventually. At least, I _hoped _I had… "Um… Inuzuka Tsume… Kiba's mom, right?" I frowned to myself, stumbling inelegantly over a tree root and swearing crossly as I trotted back towards town. "She'd be at the clan compound, right? Unless she's on a mission or something…" I felt a flash of worry – would I have to hover around with her letter until she showed up again? It was bad security to just leave a message floating around – but shoved it aside. I'd deal with that if and when it came to it.

Even outside the high stone and chainlink walls, it was all too easy to smell that this was distinctly dog territory, and it made the hair on the back of my neck prickle. The weight at the back of my mind shifted, and flickered, but didn't come forward. The noise inside of the dogs barking was nearabout deafening – the Inuzuka and me have never really gotten along. I totally blame the furball.

It was fairly easy to get someone's attention – with the dogs going mad, it was fairly obvious there was someone at the gates – and only a little harder to convince the grumpy-sounding chuunin I got hold of that I'd only give the message to Tsume herself. The matriarch of the Inuzuka Clan wasn't as bad as some people seemed to think – a little rough around the edges, sure, but that was the whole clan in a nutshell. She didn't like me much, I knew, but she didn't actively dislike me either. The message was met with a grunt and a gruff, "Now scram, already". The dogs were giving me a headache, so I was all too happy to scram.

The next name I managed to translate was one I only knew vaguely – Hagane Kotetsu. _I think he's usually on desk duty or something… what's his buddy's name? Izumo? Maybe he'll be at the mission desk…_

He wasn't, but the chuunin who was organising the forms for what sounded like a potential B-rank mission told me the pair was on duty at the south gate again, which at least meant I had no trouble finding them. From there, 'Kotetsu' was an easy question away, and I was down a third envelope.

"Tell Kakashi I think he's a bastard for sending a genin around with these messages," Kotetsu said breezily, handing me a slip of smooth scrap paper as I turned to go back into the village.

Great. Delegated to messenger bird. _That's _a great way to feel needed.

Next translatable name on the list is… Asuma-sensei, from Squad Ten. Okay, I know for _sure _that they're in-village somewhere, because if they weren't, Sakura would have complained about Ino's team getting to leave the village for a mission before us this morning instead of trying to ask Sasuke out. Heh, sucks to be him…

Which training ground does Team Ten use…?

I couldn't remember, but then again, my team tended to bounce around whatever was available anyway. Unless Asuma-sensei was much more organised than Kakashi-sensei, the same thing was probably happening for them.

I eventually tracked them down pretty much next to the Academy – I hadn't even known there was a training ground that close. The difference between Shikamaru's team and Gai's (or even my own, for that matter) was a marked decrease in noise levels. Chouji was munching on an ever-present bag of chips and doing something with his chakra that I couldn't describe, while Ino was lounging against a nearby tree. I had no idea what she was doing.

Shikamaru and the target of my search were sitting on the grass; from the occasional soft 'clacks' of wood on wood, they were playing either shougi or go.

"Asuma-sensei?" I eventually piped up to get his attention, when it seemed he was too focused on the game to acknowledge the human-sized messenger bird hovering a few feet away. "I have a message from Kakashi-sensei."

"Hm? Oh, thankyou, Naruto," he said distractedly, taking the note with one hand and moving a piece with the other. Shikamaru just paused for a few seconds, thinking out his next move, and then _clack_edanother piece into place. Asuma grumbled something under his breath, and the paper rustled.

"I envy you, Shikamaru," I commented, waiting for the return message Asuma-sensei was scratching out with a pen. "Your team is so much _quieter _than mine."

I winced as Ino suddenly barked something at Chouji, and Shikamaru shifted his weight. "I don't see how yours could be much worse," he drawled. "I have _Ino._"

I grinned. "I have Sakura and the person she likes to squeal over. Trust me, you got it easy."

"Thanks, Naruto." Asuma handed me another little folded slip of paper. "Take this back to Kakashi for me, would you?" He moved another piece, then swore under his breath at Shika's counter. I grinned again and shuffled my envelopes, looking for the next readable one.

_Yamanaka Inoichi. Wow, I guess it's true that ninja run in families. _"Hey, Ino, would you happen to know where your dad is today?" I said aloud, tipping my head to look at the girl absently.

Ino shifted on the grass, probably a little startled at being addressed. "He's either at Shikamaru's, or at work," she replied eventually.

"Okay, where's work?" I pressed. This time of day he _probably_ wouldn't be at Shika's house yet. If he wasn't at work, then I knew where the Nara house was.

Ino shrugged. "The T and I department. I dunno where it is, though."

"Oh, that's okay, I know." I nodded cheerfully and ran off, wanting to just get this stupid mission over with.

…What, exactly, is in these notes, that they're being sent to Torture and Intelligence? Suddenly I'm a little worried.

Finding T and I was, like I told Ino, quite easy. Okay, so it would be hard to find for most people, but, well… actually, I have no idea why I know where it is. It's sure as hell not a place I frequent.

Wait… 'Tachi-nii used to get sent here a lot. Me and Sasuke followed him at least once… against explicit orders, of course, but he must've known we were there…

Argh. This thinking is making my head hurt. Where the hell is the door…?

Getting in was a whole other story. I had to stand through three patdowns, a chakra check, and two 'intentions' checks. Mind you, the receptionist sounded nearly as bored and annoyed as I did, which made me feel a little more vindicated in being pissed off by the procedure. Plus, the receptionist (no doubt eager to be rid of the annoying genin who wasn't even a threat) was all too happy to point me towards Ino's dad, who was working through a pile of reports when I knocked. "Messenger," I explained, trying not to sound too exasperated.

He mumbled something in response as he read Kakashi-sensei's letter, writing furiously with the hand not holding the paper and his mind clearly on something else. "Thanks" was mumbled distractedly and I scarpered, make a silent vow to _never _get conned into a desk job. They looked like utter _hell._

Even the mission desk had to be better than _that._

I checked the envelopes I still held, the paper slightly crumpled from being clutched for so long_. Okay, and this next one is… um. Shiranui… Gerima? Man, Sensei's handwriting is _really_ bad… wait, no, no, I think it's Genma…_

Who the hell is _that?_

I couldn't recall ever meeting or hearing of someone by the name, but since I still wasn't entirely sure whether or not I was reading it right, I decided to just skip it and flipped the envelope to the back of the considerably diminished pile. There were only two other messages, and I eyed one of them with considerable trepidation. I didn't know much about Yuuhi Kurenai, except that she was a genjutsu master, one of the newer jounin, and the third jounin-sensei for this year.

Hey… wasn't that Neji dude's cousin in this team…?

However, Hinata was infinitely less annoying than Neji, or Sakura, come to think of it, and the 'wild card' Kiba was apparently having a staring contest with Shino's sunglasses.

Hey. That's just what I picked up from Kurenai telling Hinata not to worry, that Kiba wasn't actually going to attack him, and that Shino was probably asleep. It wasn't like I had any visual cues to help.

"Um, Yuuhi-sensei?" I asked, feeling oddly shy.

"Hm?" She moved, a kind of loose grace in her chakra that caught my attention briefly. "Yes, Naruto? Has Kakashi forgotten about the messenger bird system again?" she added kindly.

I grinned sheepishly in response and dropped my eyes – genjutsu users tended to be a lot more observant than their counterparts – and offered her the letter, then waited in semi-awkward silence as she made an odd noise (or maybe it was Hinata squeaking like that) and quickly penned a reply. "Would you mind taking this back to Kakashi for me?" she asked, not actually handing me the paper until I nodded.

Man. Women are weird. All the other people just shoved their replies at me and ordered me to take 'em back.

Kiba and Shino hadn't moved the whole time I was there, and I had the sneaking suspicion that Hinata had been on the verge of fainting (again. Seriously, she must be anaemic or something – happens all the time).

In spite of all this, I came away with the odd feeling that Squad Eight was the most normal of our year.

The only other envelope I had happily proclaimed 'Ibiki' in Sensei's appalling calligraphy, and I groaned. _Wonderful. Back to T and I, I guess…_

This time the "receptionist" took one look at me and my pathetic handful of envelopes and waved me through, mumbling something uncomplimentary under his breath. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, wondering if they had any other form of checking who people are other than that first check, because otherwise that guy just let a potential security risk into a place that handles a lot of dangerous prisoners and intelligence.

"Okay, Ibiki, Ibiki, I really hope he's not on shift at the moment…" I mumbled, shuddering at the thought of the _smell _of the lower sections. Not that I'd ever been down there, but I'd been around enough people who worked there to know the smell that clung to them had to be a hundred times worse. The too-familiar weight in the back of my mind perked up a little at the remembered stench of terror and pain, and I shoved it back with an eyeroll.

It took me nearly ten minutes to track down the head of T&I, and a further twenty to actually find the office he was (apparently) doing paperwork in. I heard very little ink or pen scratching when I went in, as opposed to Inoichi.

"Message from Kakashi-sensei," I announced in a bored tone, all too happy to hand over the second-to-last note on my pile, leaving me with the one I either didn't know or couldn't read. As Ibiki pocketed his note with a rustle of paper and cloth, I had a flash of inspiration, fingering the unintelligible note. "Since I'm down here, would you happen to know who Shiranui Genma is?" I asked hopefully, and got a grunt that could have constituted either surprise or derision.

"Yeah, I know him." Oh yes! "But not where he is," he was quick to add – some of my elation must have shown a bit too clearly. "Sorry, kid." He sounded more amused than sorry, and I left the creepy HQ for the second time that day, with no idea where to find him, but at least fairly sure that Genma existed.

I spent hours trekking over the village looking for 'Genma', but everyone I asked either ignored me, didn't know who he was, or didn't know _where _he was. Honestly, Ibiki had been the most helpful, and when the head of Torture is being the most helpful you know there's something up. My head ached, and I had no idea why the furball wasn't fixing whatever the hell the problem was, which only made me grumpier. Eventually, I gave up on ever finding this 'Genma' character and stormed back to the little red bridge, intending to just throw the damn letter in the stream if Sensei wasn't there.

Fortunately for village security, my teacher was leaning against the railings lazily, and I heard him shift, probably to look at me, as I got closer, and I scowled at him. "How did you go, Naruto?"

"Who the hell is Genma?" I snapped by way of reply, my temper made worse by the unmitigated thudding of my head. "I've been all over the damn village and I can't find the guy, so if it's really that important, take the damn letter to him yourself. For all I know you just made him up to annoy me!"

"Hey!" said another voice, belonging to the other person I had sensed on the bridge; his chakra was vaguely familiar, but clearly not someone's I actually knew, so I had ignored him up until now.

Kakashi-sensei was grinning, I just knew it. "Naruto, I'd like you to meet an old friend of mine, Shiranui Genma. Be nice to him; he just got in from a mission. Genma, this is Naruto, one of my genin. He's been delivering messages today."

"Speaking of," I grumbled, thrusting the last envelope at this Genma dude. "Take the damn thing. And you get these." I turned and shoved the return messages I had picked up at my teacher, who started to go through them leisurely.

"Oooh, what did you get?" Genma asked, his voice laughing.

"Note from Asuma, note from Kotetsu, challenge from Gai, paper bomb… Naruto!"

"How did that get in there?" I didn't remember Gai giving me anything to take back…

"…but, assassination attempts aside, nothing interesting," my teacher finished, hand going out to pat my shoulder absently. The unexpected contact made me flinch. "A job well done, eh, Naruto? You're the first one finished, too!"

I stared at him flatly, too tired to make an effort to hide the blankness in my eyes with a smile. "Can I go home yet?"

* * *

_Kakashi's Log_

_Sakura did well at the hospital. Separated from Sasuke and other influences from her age group, she did better than I'd expected. This kind of arrangement could be beneficial for her._

_It certainly would be wise to get her some medical training; the people I've spoken with have confirmed she has potential for it._

_Sasuke wasn't as focused as I thought he would be. He kept losing one of the triplets, and seemed to have trouble getting him back. He also seemed to be very upset with me by the end of the day, though I'm not entirely sure why…_

_Naruto did alright with messages (see attached replies; Ibiki was zero help, told me to do my own job and let him do his), but he was in an appalling mood by the end of it – it seems he had trouble with my handwriting. He was also a bit scratched up, and horribly jumpy. Something in the way he looked at Genma and me…_

…_No. That can't be right. I can't believe it. I won't believe it._

…_maybe…_

* * *

Japanese Concepts: Plurals

The correct English way to create a plural changes depending on the word and the context it's being used in, but the general way is to add an 's' or 'es', except in special cases like oxen and geese. When using romaji to write out Japanese words as we so often do for fanfiction, a lot of people follow the 's' or 'es' rules, but this isn't strictly correct – grammatically speaking, no 's' should be added, or any change made to it at all. It's like sheep and sheep, or fish and fish – Japanese words used in the context mentioned above can act as both their singular and plural forms.

And if anyone tries to tell me that 'fishes' is the plural form of 'fish', I will sic my graduate year grammar teacher on you. This is the teacher who had a stroke, and came out of hospital a few days later to mark spelling tests.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.


	10. A Test of Subtlety

Okay, I _was _going to make you guys wait for this one, buut, someone convinced me otherwise. You were probably expecting another three months, weren't ya?

This chapter is dedicated to Starfire-chan521, for your, ahem, 'flame'. It made me laugh. Thank you very very much.

* * *

**Ten: A Test of Subtlety**

"Aaah! Naruto, what happened to you?!" Sakura screamed.

"Naruto, you're on fire again," said Sasuke, sounding bored.

"I thought I could smell smoke!" I grumbled. "I've been searching for the damn fire all the way here! Where the heck is it?!"

"Left sleeve."

I started beating it out immediately. "Thankyou! Stupid shock tag backfired on me halfway through and blew up a lamp. Scared the crap out of the neighbour's cat."

"You do look slightly charred," Sasuke agreed, obviously amused. "I thought you had the shock tags working?"

"I do, actually; the paper I was using was contaminated," I explained. "I'm not sure what the problem was, but it didn't feel quite right. Last time I ignore my gut screaming 'danger! Danger! Abort and run for life!' I swear, it's a health hazard, ignoring your instincts. I was working on one of my poison tags last night, maybe that had something to do with it…"

Sasuke snorted faintly. "Whatever you like, Naruto. But you were going to work on your flips some more while we're waiting for Kakashi-sensei to show, remember?"

"Oh yeah…" I stretched carefully, before springing into a backflip, landing on my hands, and pushing off again to land on my feet. Sasuke grunted noncommittally.

"No, you're still off-centre. Geez, can't you do anything right?"

"Teme," I grumbled, "this is harder than it looks!"

"You're still pushing too hard with your right hand and leg, it's turning you a little," the Uchiha reported, sounding smug and nonchalant to anyone's ears but mine. My ears heard the patience and encouragement he was communicating: no one seemed to have deciphered our private language.

"Sasuke-kun is right, Naruto," Sakura added. "You really need to practise."

"Yeah, well, I _am _right handed," I muttered under my breath, trying the manoeuvre again and stumbling slightly at an unknown terrain change. "Stupid rocks."

Today, with Sasuke helping me, I was trying to work on a particular style of backflip that I had been having trouble with. Apparently most ninja couldn't see what they were doing with this flip anyway, but they, unlike me, could see vaguely where the ground was. I had landed on my head more times than I cared to count in the past week. On the plus side, I was starting to learn the sort-of passive reflection of chakra that was the ground that would have helped when I was learning tree-climbing.

A poofing sound and a sliver of chakra shaped into a shunshin signal caught me off-guard halfway through another flip, and I curled up a little and went into a side roll so as not to crack my head against the ground. I had discovered that already to be not fun.

"You're late!" Sakura yelled at our teacher, who was probably reading his stupid book again.

"Y'know, I'm starting to think he's _always _late," I said, very sarcastically, propping myself up on my elbows where I was lying on my stomach.

"Yes, I've noticed that too," Sasuke agreed, also sarcastic. "Maybe it's not just a one-time thing?"

"Hmm, it _does _seem to be a bit of a habit, doesn't it?"

"I think so, seeing as he's never been known to be on time before."

"Well, not since he was an ANBU, anyway," I mused, before realising I shouldn't know that. Oh damn. Hey, where _had _I picked that titbit up from, anyway? I hadn't had the time to steal Kakashi's files yet… Eh. Not a mystery I could be bothered to solve.

Kakashi-sensei seemed happier than usual today. "You're all dismissed for the day!" he said cheerfully, and left.

I stared at the last spot I'd heard his voice, mouth twitching. "He kept us waiting for _that?!_"

"You know, the hunt-down-sensei-and-kill-him plan is looking better every day," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"I vote we break into his apartment and set his bookcase on fire."

Sasuke chuckled tiredly; both of us were ignoring Sakura, who was yelling at a teacher who wasn't present. We didn't try to interrupt her; the mission to Wave had taught us some respect for female moodiness. "We can't do that, Naruto, he's a jounin and our teacher. Plus there's probably something to do with morality in there."

"Oh, by the way," our sensei said brightly, reappearing suddenly and nearly giving all three of us coronaries, "I need to talk to you three tomorrow, so meet me at the red bridge at five a.m., bright and early! Don't be late!" Then he was gone again.

There was a pause.

"I'll bring the matches," Sasuke growled.

All three of us chuckled slightly at that notion.

"Well, what should we do now?" Sasuke asked, then automatically cringed as he recognised what he had said. Fortunately, he was saved from a fangirl attack by a scream about a block away from us. Before we even realised what was going on all three of us were sprinting.

As we shot down the street Sasuke muttered, "Two unfamiliar ninja – Suna from their hitai-ates – one's holding a kid by a scarf, eight years old give or take, one ninja in black, male, mummy-like contraption strapped to his back, second one is female, blonde haired, looks bored, looks dangerous."

I nodded my thanks, matching the three voices and chakra essences I could hear and sense to the descriptions, noting a fourth further off, before declaring, loudly, "HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

If three kids dashing down the street hadn't gotten their attention, _that _had. "Well well well," the male sneered, "what do we have here? More Konohan brats."

The girl – young woman, more like – sighed. "Kankuro, we're not here to make trouble. Put the brat down and let's _go. _You know Gaara won't be pleased if you cause a fuss."

"But Temari, he ran into me! And Gaara's not even here yet!"

The kid made a choking sound, and I literally felt my face hardening. "Put him down," I ordered, my voice quieter than usual but with twice the force.

"You're on Konoha ground, attacking our people," Sasuke remarked from my left.

"The kid didn't hurt you, so quit looking for trouble," Sakura added, with a tiny spike of killer intent.

I snorted slightly, the action perfectly silent. "You're here for the exams, not to cause a diplomatic incident that could take years of paperwork to clear up. Now _put – him – down._"

There was an almost soundless growl from the Suna ninja called Kankuro, and I stared at the spot I could guess his face to be with a stone mask, not glaring, but letting him know that I – and the rest of my team – meant business.

"And you can come down from there," I called sharply to a tree, the one with a set of vital signs and an unfamiliar chakra sitting on a high branch. "I know you're hiding up there."

There was the chakra flash of a shunshin, the sensation a little different to a Konohan shunshin, and the ninja in the tree reappeared much closer by and on ground level. "Kankuro," he said, his voice a cold growl. "We didn't come here to make trouble. Put him down or I'll kill you." His voice was totally matter-of-fact.

I almost raised an eyebrow at the sudden fear-scent flooding my nostrils at the third nin's appearance in the street. Apparently the other two hadn't known he was there, and were very scared of him.

With a slight rustle of clothing, he seemed to turn slightly towards us and said, "I am sorry for their behaviour." Then his clothes rustled again as he turned away.

The other boy – Kankuro – set the kid down and the little one ran away instantly, his chakra form immediately rejoining with two others before all three fled. "Gaara! You see, what happened was – They started it – The kid, he-"

"Shut up."

"Right. Sorry, Gaara. I was totally out of line. Sorry."

I was probably frowning slightly, doing a full scan of the three's unshielded chakra. It was slightly harsher than average Konoha chakra – probably from the desert environment they hailed from. It made sense that chakra forms differed from place to place. Zabuza and Haku's chakra had felt a little different, too. More fluid, though I hadn't really noticed it at the time. The third ninja, the one they called Gaara, his chakra was something else entirely. It was thicker, coarser, more bloody and hateful. Almost like the chakra of the demon fox Kyuubi.

"Who are you?" I voiced aloud, even though they had already started walking away.

Their soft footsteps halted, and at least one of them turned around to look at me. "Sabaku no Gaara, of Suna," the boy with the demonic chakra abruptly voiced. There was a short pause of maybe a heartbeat. "Who are _you?_"

"Uchiha Sasuke," my dark friend said coolly. "This is Uzumaki Naruto." There was a pause before he realised the third member of our team was here. "That is Haruno Sakura."

Without another word, the three Suna shinobi vanished.

Instantly Sasuke rounded on me. "What exams?! When did you hear about them? When were you planning on _telling _me about them!?"

"Calm down," I told him awkwardly, scratching my head. "I only heard about them a little while ago, from the sensei of Team Nine."

"Riiight, and when did you last come into contact with him?" my friend asked dryly.

"I haven't. I can just hear him shouting about them. I _still _hear him shouting about them," I added, twitching as a particularly loud bellow reached my ears. "How can you guys not hear that?!"

"Naruto, remember, your ears are hypersensitive," Sakura informed me. "Ours are normal. We just hear the normal stuff, whereas you can hear a jounin sensei from two kilometres away."

"Uh, point of interest, I wouldn't class Maito Gai's stealth as being jounin level. Think Rock Lee, with adult lungs." I shuddered slightly at the thought. "At this stage I think about a quarter of the village knows about the Chuunin Exams from him alone…"

"Chuunin Exams?" Sakura asked with interest. "I didn't know they were coming up."

"The jounin have been trying to keep it under wraps from the annoying genin population who will demand to be nominated," I explained. "The tests begin next week, though, so ninja from other countries are starting to pour in. Even if they haven't heard Gai yet, every genin in Konoha will know about the exams one way or another."

* * *

"FINALLY, Kakashi-sensei!" I exclaimed the next morning at approximately eight o'clock. "I thought you were never gonna tell us!"

Kakashi seemed confused by that. "What do you mean, Naruto? What would give you the idea I wouldn't tell you? Where did you hear about them before, anyway?"

"I – and most of the village – heard it from Gai," I informed him. "I managed to filter it out through some babble about the 'flames of youth' and sparring. Figured you couldn't be bothered to tell us about them until the last second to warn us where not to go."

Kakashi-sensei gave a definite shudder, one that I noted down as an unusual reaction in Kakashi's mental file – How well did he know Gai? That message last week, what had that been about? "Of _course _I would tell you three about the exams you're entered in!"

There was a pause before my horrified brain managed to reboot. "YOU _WHAT_?!"

"I nominated you three for the Chuunin Exams," Kakashi-sensei repeated calmly. "Even if you don't pass, it will be a good learning experience for the three of you. Here are the forms – fill them out and take them to the Academy, Room 301 on the third floor on the day of the exam. The exam is in one week. Good luck!"

Poof.

"I really am gonna kill him someday."

* * *

"Hey, I hope Sakura shows up," I announced suddenly as we – 'we' being me and Sasuke – stood in front of the Academy where the first test was being held. There was a crowd of genin from every country, their nationality identified by Sasuke's descriptions and my knowledge of village insignia – except Yuki, which I made a mental note to check up on later – hovering around the doors and fighting to get through.

"Why?" Sasuke wanted to know, keeping two fingers on my wrist to let me know he was still there even through the raucous din the ninja were making. "It's totally optional, and we'd probably do better without her."

"Actually, all three team members need to be present to even get inside," I informed him, voice low. "Before this mob got here I heard a pair trying to force their way in – but they weren't allowed. If Sakura's not here, we won't be entering the exam after all."

Sasuke grunted, sounding resigned.

"Hey, guys, Sasuke-kun, Naruto," came Sakura's light voice from behind us, carefully quiet. I smiled slightly in thanks that she had listened to the explanation of her loud voice hurting my sensitive ears and nodded in greeting. "When did you guys get here?"

"About two hours ago," I informed her. "I wanted to scout out the competition without having to watch my back too much. There's a lot of talent here, and a lot of no-hopers, too. I can't help but wonder how some of them even made genin – they're more cannon fodder than chuunin material."

"Come on, let's go," Sasuke said flatly, pushing himself off the tree he'd been leaning on and gently tugging at my orange jacket to let me know we were going. I followed him easily through the crowd, having gotten much better at focusing on an individual's pattern than I had been before Wave, weaving around the scrambling genin. I only lost Sasuke once in the mass of sounds and smells, and I quickly found him again, less concerned by the loss of my reference point.

Okay, so it still freaked me out. Just not to the point of mental breakdown.

We managed to fight our way through the crowd and bolted up the stairs, where another crowd was hovering around a door on the second floor. Why they were so interested in a door I remembered to be the broom closet was beyond me, but I ignored it and made to go up the next flight only to get yanked back by Sakura. "Naruto, where are you going, you idiot?!"

"To the third floor," I said blankly.

"But this _is _the third floor," Sakura insisted, thankfully still quietly. "That door there – it's Room 301, Naruto! Are you blind or something?!"

I felt Sasuke twitch. "Sakura, this is only the second floor," I told her. "We need to go up another floor first."

"That's just a genjutsu," Sasuke added under his breath, and I realised the door had been henged or similar.

"Those two chuunin must have set it up," I mused.

"What two chuunin?" Sakura and Sasuke both asked.

"The two guarding the door," I returned, just as confused as they were. "No way does _that _chakra belong to genin." My sensing had been getting better and better since the emergency crash course in Wave – I could sense power levels now, too, and I was starting to get a feel for the slippery shadowy anonymity that indicated a shield – the 'void' that had baffled me when we were fighting Zabuza.

"Another genjutsu," Sasuke realised, and I shook my head silently. Most genjutsu didn't affect me, but they still affected the people around me. I needed to work on my sensing abilities for genjutsu or my friends could get in trouble and I'd never know.

I listened to the sounds of a brawl starting and smirked slightly, shaking my head. Leave the silly genin to their fights, and the silly chuunin to their amusement. "Come on, guys, let's move."

As we walked upstairs, my ears caught a conversation somewhere further off – a room upstairs, I suspected. Putting one hand on Sasuke's arm so I wouldn't get lost, I focused in on it.

"I need to go and do a last scan on the Forest of Death," said a female voice I vaguely recognised as a Konoha jounin. "You have fun torturing the genin with intel gathering, Ibiki."

"I will, I will," said a male voice – the head of Interrogation, if I remembered right. What the heck was Ibiki doing here? "It's so amusing, watching them figure out they don't need _knowledge_, and then fail to do anything useful about it. And they wonder why making chuunin is so difficult?"

"What's the last question this year?" the woman asked, sounding interested. The voices were fading – they were moving away from me, out of my range. "The do-or-die, pass-or-fail, sink-or-swim question?"

"Risk and pass, or take no chances and fail," was the quiet reply, before they faded entirely.

I blinked and stumbled over the last step as I came back to my team. I laughed slightly, then realised Kakashi-sensei was standing idly outside the door to Room 301. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei," I said, vaguely surprised. "What are you doing here? I thought you already passed the chuunin exam?"

I sensed a glare being shot my way and smiled innocently. The book was shut with a snap, and Kakashi-sensei said, "I wanted to be here to make sure all three of you came."

"We already know that we need everyone here," I interrupted before he could tell us something I already knew.

"Hm. Well then… good luck to all three of you!" he said brightly.

"We have such a weird teacher," Sakura sighed, moving towards the closed door – I could hear more people behind it.

I went to follow her, then paused and bit my lip. Should I tell them what I overheard? Or would that count as cheating? But we were ninja; playing fair is for samurai. Any advantage we had should be exploited. And I shouldn't hold such an advantage from my team. My hearing was one of the few advantages we'd be able to get – the other genin would have years' worth of experience on their sides.

"Hey, guys?" I said, making them both pause to look at me. "In this exam… it's information gathering, not knowledge. Don't be fooled. And the last question is a risk-taking thing: risk and pass, take the safe option and fail." I stopped and scratched the back of my head sheepishly at their no doubt questioning looks. "Just… something I picked up… it wouldn't be nice to not share it…"

Sasuke breathed out faintly. "Thanks, Naruto, that could be useful," he said. "Let's show 'em what we're made of."

I grinned and trotted up to him, and we moved towards the door as Team Seven. "When did you hear that?" Sasuke muttered into my ear.

"Like, two minutes ago?" I whispered back. "I think it was the proctors talking."

He nodded, and opened the door.

The sudden flare of killer intent was rather impressive for a bunch of genin, and I raised both eyebrows. "Wow, hostile much?"

"Hey, you made it!" came the boisterous shout from somewhere to our right, and I smelled the unmistakeable odour of Kiba and Akamaru, plus the rest of their team. I grinned at them, and then dodged to the side to avoid a flying body.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Ino shouted as she latched onto her crush. "Did you miss me?! It must have been sooo horrible, being stuck with Forehead Girl on your team!"

"Ino-pig, get off Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shot back.

"It's… _touching…_ me…" Sasuke whimpered.

"You wuss," I muttered at him.

"How troublesome."

"Hi, Shikamaru," I said, ignoring the shouting match that had broken out behind me and Sasuke yelping that he was going to be torn in two if they didn't let him go. "Oh, for Kami's sake, Sasuke, are you a ninja or not?! Do a kawarimi!"

He did very promptly, leaving the two fangirls to drop the tree branch he had substituted with and continue arguing. "So, Shika, how's life?"

"Hey, Naruto, I haven't seen you in ages!" Kiba shouted, right next to my ear. I winced, and listened half-heartedly to his happy boasting, not really caring once the volume dropped a little. It was nice to know he hadn't even noticed me delivering a message to his teacher. "Hey, hey, it looks like the whole Rookie Nine is here this year! Team Seven, Team Eight, and Team Ten!" Damn. Went up again.

I made a show of glancing around as I matched the six other chakra patterns and scents to my memory before nodding. "It looks that way. Wonder how long it'll last?"

"Hey, are you sayin' we're not gonna make it through this?!"

"Would you rookies mind putting a lid on it?!"

I whipped around and fought the urge to snarl at the newcomer – I'd sensed his chakra around the village, but I didn't know him personally. "Everyone's on edge, and you guys are making such a racket that some tempers are bound to go off! You're the rookie nine, aren't you? I'd advise you keep your heads down and not make trouble for yourselves."

"And who are you, anyway?!" Kiba asked loudly.

"Me? Oh, I'm Yakushi Kabuto," came the easy reply; Kabuto had a friendly voice, but there was something in it that I really didn't like.

I've spent most of my life listening to people talking and understanding more from what they didn't say or how they said it. A lot of people talk to me in false-kind voices, so I've picked up exactly how to tell what their real intentions are. I read voices better than most people read faces – and I didn't like how Kabuto spoke.

Sure, it was friendly enough, open, light-hearted, but there was a sarcastic tinge to it. A taunting smugness that just screamed at my instincts that something was wrong. A condescending tone in his sheepish chuckle as he admitted to failing the exam seven times – _seven, that's sad. I passed the genin exam on my third and a half go, so how bad must he be?_

I narrowed my eyes slightly, backing away a little, before turning around altogether and walking away. Sasuke followed me instantly, and Sakura came after us too, while the other six rookies stayed, not noticing our departure to the other side of the room.

"I don't like Kabuto," I told them flat out once we were out of hearing range. "There's something wrong in his voice, his attitude – stay away from him and his teammates, and don't trust them. Leaf or no, Kabuto is _not _on our side for this exam."

I had no idea how right I was.

I just thought he was plotting an ambush, an easy pass for his team later on.

I think it was after this that I started to get reeeaally paranoid.

A door at the bottom of the hall slammed open, and I glanced at it, instantly recognising two of the chakra signatures as jounin, and three more as chuunin – two of them the signals that had been guarding the second-floor door. "SHUT UP, YOU MISERABLE TADPOLES!" shouted the voice I had previously identified as the Head of Interrogation, and I grinned, knowing this exam was going to be funny as hell. "Anyone not in a chair in four seconds is disqualified and their team with them!"

There was a flurry of activity as everyone scrambled for seats, me, Sasuke and Sakura instantly springing for the bench nearest us. Once all was quiet and one unlucky team was chased out for being too slow, complaining the whole way, the man at the front shouted, "My name is Morino Ibiki, and I am your proctor for the first part of this chuunin exam! My word is law, so if I say you're disqualified at any point, get lo-st!

"This is going to be a written exam –" he actually laughed at the groans of despair and/or horror. "Yes, a written exam, you miserable worms! Come down here and hand over your entry forms in exchange for a number and your exam! Sit where the number indicates, and then shut the hell up!"

I stood up calmly and walked down to the front, where people were already lining up to get their papers and numbers. Following Sasuke, I stood patiently on the end of the line, swapped my registration for an exam and a pencil, and then read my number, brushing my fingers over the engraved wooden button. Having brushed my hand over several desks as I walked down, I understood the numbering system in the room, hazarded a guess as to my position, walked over and checked it. _Bingo! I am so cool!_

I sat down and scanned the room's chakra essences, finding Sasuke two rows behind me and Sakura closer to the front. The rest of the Rookie Nine was scattered around, along with plenty of unfamiliar chakras as well. Most of them felt extremely nervous. _When did I develop the ability to sense emotion through chakra? _That was a new one. Had it happened gradually, or had I had a breakthrough?

Filing the whole deal away for investigation later, I tuned back in, and I suspected that the sadistic jounin up the front was grinning. "Now that we're all ready for this, I'll explain the rules!

"There are ten questions on this exam, and the marking system is a little different to what you're used to! Instead of being awarded points, you begin with ten points! For every question you get wrong, a point is deducted from your overall score! If you get caught cheating, then two points will be taken from your score! If you cheat five times and get caught then you will be disqualified! If any member of your team gets a score of zero, then the entire team fails!"

There was a definite groan as that rule was announced, and I frowned. This was information gathering, I knew that already. So we were _supposed _to cheat, and cheating badly would cost us. But if the questions were hard enough to force us to cheat – and they'd have to be, or the whole test would be pointless – then chances were only very intelligent – or high-level – people could answer them. Which meant there were plants in the exam – chuunin or higher.

My mind was noting Ibiki's time limit setting (you have one hour to do this test!) and the tenth question mystery (the tenth question will be given to you when ten minutes remain!) and at the same time, I was tracking down the strong chakra sources in the crowd, separating strong genin and actual chuunin.

I pinned one down as a definite plant a bare two seconds before Ibiki yelled, "BEGIN!" and I flipped my paper.

I put my pencil to the paper and listened closely, shutting my eyes unconsciously as I zeroed in on my target – the chuunin plant. As he started to write, not too fast, fortunately, I copied his pencil's movements, listening to the slight scratches it made as graphite was rubbed into the paper, my sharp ears able to tell what direction the characters were going in, how far, and how far apart each new stroke was. This was a skill I had learned in the Academy when we needed to copy things from the board – I had taught myself to follow the teacher's chalk movements with only my ears. I couldn't read it from the board, but if I heard it being written, I could copy it perfectly.

This guy obviously knew all the answers to the questions, and I copied them all dutifully, finishing a good… oh, ten minutes into the test. Now I had nothing to do. Great…

First I checked my answers, to make sure the chuunin I had picked out wasn't a moron. They seemed viable, but considering I didn't even _understand _half the questions, that didn't exactly count for much. Although I was pretty sure the codebreaker was right. Codes were something I understood, my sealing experiences and reading between the lines helping me along.

Next I followed the chakra flickers flashing through the room as best I could, recognising the Byakugan from Hinata, Neji and another Hyuuga I didn't know; Sasuke was using the Sharingan behind me. The demonic-chakra-dude-from-Suna was using something near the ceiling that just reeked of his chakra, and Ino was stealing answers off Sakura with her Mind Transfer jutsu. Some guy from Rain (or maybe Kiri) was doing something with chakra and what sounded like needles, and one of the people I didn't know the village of was doing something with bells.

…and now I was bored again. I flipped over my test paper to find the back completely blank, and couldn't hold back a grin. Now, what to draw…

I pondered this for a few seconds, my mind flashing through all the conversations I'd heard today for inspiration, and before I knew it my hand was drawing, flickering over the paper in broad strokes, and I just went with the flow and drew.

Twenty minutes later, I brushed my fingers over the full-length sketch, raising an eyebrow at what I 'saw'. A young woman – _maybe twenty years old?_ – wearing fishnet, a skirt, a trenchcoat and not much else. Her hair was pinned up at the back but the ends fanned over her head, and her face was adorned with a rather evil-looking grin. Sadistic. Psychotic. Satanic. She was holding a kunai nonchalantly with one hand, her other hand making an unfamiliar seal, the barest hints of chakra shading her outline.

I had no idea who she was – no, wait, I did. Her name was Anko, couldn't remember last name, and I had actually seen her face when I was three… I think… The rest of her… I think there was a report on her making Special Jounin a while back, and that had a series of photographs in it. That I had 'borrowed' temporarily. Apparently I had pieced them together.

I stared at the picture for a few seconds, wondering what self-respecting female would _wear _something like this, before I added a caption underneath.

Just to freak out anyone who knew this 'Anko' person.

…and I was bored again.

I spent the next fifteen minutes scribbling aimlessly on my paper, until finally Ibiki bellowed, "PENCILS DOWN! IT'S TIME FOR THE TENTH QUESTION!"

There was the sound of more than a hundred pencils clattering onto the desks as everyone dropped them. No one dared to make a sound as Ibiki started to speak again. "Now, before I give out the tenth question, I'm imposing another rule. You can choose whether or not to take this question. If you choose not to, you and your entire team fail, and you can try again next time. But if you choose to take the question, and you get it wrong, then you and your team can never take the chuunin exams ever again!"

There was instant chaos, people screaming 'that's not fair!' left right and centre. I pinned my hands over my ears in a doomed attempt to block out the noise and waited several minutes for the din to subside. Eventually Ibiki solved the problem. **"SHUT UP!!!"**

I pried my hands off my ringing ears in blessed silence, ready to block them again if it restarted, but Ibiki kept talking. "I make the rules. For those of you who've taken this exam before and been allowed to return, well, unfortunately for you lot, this is my first year proctoring." He grinned. "I make the rules, and if you don't want to risk failing permanently, put up your hands and leave!"

For a few seconds nothing happened. Then someone stood up and bolted – not someone I knew. That seemed to have been the floodgate, as suddenly the teams were dropping like flies.

I sat patiently and hoped that Sakura would have the guts to wait it out. Hopefully me telling them beforehand about this doozy of a tenth question would help them to hold out.

People just kept leaving, some slowly losing their confidence as the pressure poured on, others snapping in an instant under the strain, and still others holding firm. I waited, sensing the emotional states of the people around me wavering through their chakra, the flashes of disappointment, terror, anger, the whole deal. This _had _to be a new skill – I'd never noticed anything even approaching this magnitude before. Although I had to wonder uneasily what had triggered it.

The girl sitting beside me – Hinata, I now realised – was shaking slightly, her clothing rustling faintly, her chakra flickering with indecision. Another team dropped out, this one a Leaf team – not one of the Rookie Nine. But it was only a matter of time, wasn't it, before someone chickened out, broke under the mounting stress – was that killer intent I was sensing?

"Is that everyone?" Ibiki asked menacingly. "You're all going to risk your careers on this one question, and if someone can't answer it…" There was no response, aside from two more teams dropping out. "That's it…? Well then, you all PASS!"

"WHAAAT?!" the girl from Suna – Temari – shouted out. "What happened to the tenth question?!"

"There is no tenth question!" Ibiki retorted. "Or rather, the tenth question is the decision to continue, in spite of the risks, even though you didn't know what was coming!"

There was some startled muttering, and I thought I heard Sakura turn around in her seat to look at me, but I might have been imagining it. "What does that have to do with it?" someone called, Grass, if I wasn't wrong.

"As a chuunin, do you have the ability to say "let's turn back" halfway through a dangerous mission, just because you don't have enough information?!" was Ibiki's thunderous reply. "As a chuunin you have to take risks! You have to be willing to fly blind in enemy territory with no idea where you're going or what you're up against! You have to be prepared for anything! You cannot turn down a mission because you think it's too dangerous; we are ninja! The ninja life is danger incarnate!"

I nodded in understanding. The last question was a test of all that and more. A chuunin has to make decisions that could destroy their team if they pick the wrong option. The tenth question weeded out those who weren't ready to make those kinds of decisions, or weren't ready for the consequences.

"So you have all passed the first exam," Ibiki repeated. "Your second exam will be –"

The window imploded and I instantly ducked out of the way of any shards. Glass is painful. I heard someone land on the floor and thought I heard the clank of weaponry accompanying it as well, but I focused on the voice now shouting at us. "ALRIGHT, MAGGOTS! I'M MITARASHI ANKO, THE PROCTOR OF THE SECOND EXAM!! I WANT TO SEE YOU AT TRAINING GROUND FORTY-FOUR, ALSO KNOWN AS THE FOREST OF DEATH, IN ONE HOUR!! GOT THAT?!"

I winced and covered my ears. _Urrrr… Looouuuud…_

"Well?!? GET LOST!!"

* * *

Ibiki was busily gathering up all the exams from the desks – some had even ended up on the floor – when Hatake Kakashi, a jounin of one of the Rookie Nine, came in, eyes glued to his R-rated orange book. "Hello, Kakashi," he said mildly, picking up another exam paper and considering whether to shred it on the spot. "What brings you here?"

The book snapped shut, and Ibiki knew that the other man meant business. "I've been noticing some odd things about one of my students and wondered how he was acting around others, as you _already know._" He mock-glared and Ibiki grinned unrepentantly. "Ibiki, this might be important. Did you notice the blonde, Uzumaki Naruto, doing anything strange in your exam at all?"

Ibiki shrugged, picking up another paper. "He wrote all his answers down with his eyes shut, for one thing. And he didn't seem at all bothered by the do-or-die ultimatum tenth question." He glanced at another paper and raised an eyebrow. "Here's his exam now," he said, noting the message 'I'm bored!' scrawled around the edge in a continuous border, which didn't bother him. No, what was confusing was the way his answer handwriting was a startling imitation of the chuunin's that Ibiki had planted a couple of rows in front of him. Interesting…

Then he turned the paper over, and nearly had a heart attack.

"Ibiki? Are you alright? You look like your spleen just imploded," said Kakashi, sounding slightly anxious.

Without a word Ibiki flipped the paper around to show Kakashi a perfect sketch of Anko in one of her favourite battle positions, her left hand in a strengthening seal, her other one holding a kunai ready for a Kuchiyose jutsu. The evil grin was more than perfect, and the gleam in her eyes made the black and white image come to life.

He read the caption underneath.

…_she's coming…_

_

* * *

_

Kakashi's Log

…

…

…_AHHHHHHH!!_

_I am slowly being driven insane by these genin._

_I went to check Naruto's progress in the chuunin exams, and his handwriting was perfectly identical to the chuunin's he had been copying off. Or rather the chuunin they _assume_ he was copying off, as no one actually caught him at it. Then he wrote 'I'm bored' to make a border around his exam paper._

_But what took the cake was his new sketch._

_On the back was a perfect drawing of Mitarashi Anko, the proctor for the second exam – who I'm quite sure Naruto had never met until she was introduced as the second proctor. He certainly wouldn't have had enough time to sketch her then. And the caption was freaky. "…she's coming…" It was enough to scare Ibiki briefly. I have attached it as a reference._

_Also, before he went into the exams, he paused in the doorway, and then told his teammates the entire purpose of the first test and what to do with the tenth question!_

_There is definitely something going on here._

_Note: How did Naruto know I was in ANBU?_

* * *

Japanese Update

This is something I learned just this morning, regarding the word 'kami' in the Japanese language. Earlier in the fic I cited it as meaning "literally, God", but I'm now told this is not strictly correct, regardless of how it is frequently used as such. There is no direct translation for it, as 'kami' is used to denote various deities and not just the all-powerful God of Christianity (and several other religions, don't get me wrong).

However, as it's the closest translation we've got, it's the one we're gonna go with.


	11. Snakebite

Okay, people… after reading the question in so many reviews, I'm going to answer this one publicly:

Naruto DID NOT know that Anko would be the second examiner.

He knew vaguely that she was involved with the exam from the conversation he overheard (or did I delete that bit?), but nothing more.

Precognition? Uhm, no, I'm trying to steer as far away from the supernatural as is possible when you're working in a fandom that involves demons and fireballs and lightning shooting out of your fingers…

And because we keep getting asked this, yes, it IS possible for blind people to draw. It may not be perfect, and Naruto is probably a little rough around the edges with it, so to speak, but it is possible for them to draw and get it pretty darn right. I was attempting to take it a step further and explain it with chakra, but if we get asked four times a chapter what's going on, I clearly haven't been succeeding.

Right. Question-and-answer time is over. Read-the-story time now, if you're not already.

**

* * *

**

Eleven: Snakebite

I was checking my backpack for the eighteenth time by feel as I walked towards the second exam with Sasuke, checking that I had packed everything I needed – did the pack feel too light? What if I'd forgotten something? Were my new tags in here? Had I remembered the extra bundles for my teammates?

Ten seconds of frantic scrabbling later, I remembered I'd put them in a pocket of my new pants – Sasuke (who had made me wear them for the exams) informed me they were black, which I wasn't happy about, but he said there was an orange stripe up the hem, so maybe they weren't so bad.

"Hey, Sasuke," I said to get his attention, pulling out three bundles of rectangular paper sheafs with ink seals carefully drawn on them, held together with bands of coloured paper, and gently tossing them to him. "Here."

"What are these for?" he asked as he opened a velcroed pocket to tuck them away.

"They're my latest tags. Red band is explosive tags, my own variety, yellow band is shock tags, and white band is flash tags."

He made a sound of acknowledgement as we kept walking. "Having any luck with the… what are you calling 'em? Freeze tags?"

I shook my head. "Uh-uh; they're difficult. Ice isn't a normal element, so I've been having trouble finding seals. That kid, Haku, said that his element was a by-product of a… kekkei… genkai…" I trailed off, frowning, before starting to grin maniacally. "Aha! I think I've got it!"

I began to scribble in a notebook, suddenly having gotten an idea for _combining _the two elemental seals ice was made up of – water and wind – but they wouldn't mesh, I could see that straightaway. I would have to modify them enough to work together, but not so much that they would cease to be what they were.

I was still scribbling wildly when we stopped at the edge of the Forest of Death, a good distance from the other waiting genin – Sasuke knew I worked better with quiet, and we still needed to be close enough that we'd know when the exam started. I finished reworking the water release seal I had hopes I could use and started to fiddle with the next one, barely noticing when Sakura came up to us until she actually said hello.

"Oh! Sakura! I have some tag seals for you!" I said, tugging the bundles out of my pocket and separating the ones for Sakura from the test ones I was planning to use in the exam, with the enemy ninja as guinea pigs. "Red is explosive, white is flash, yellow is shock. Wrap em' around a kunai or apply to a surface and put in a bit of chakra. These ones have ten-second timers; I'm still trying to get the remote fuses to work. And I don't trust the impact fuses either."

"What are those purple ones for?" she asked, stowing her own tags in her backpack.

"Uh, what colour stripe?" I asked distractedly, putting the handful of tags away and returning to my sealbook with a frown. No, that bit wasn't going to work, the nodes were all wrong…

"Purple band, yellow stripe," Sakura answered me. "The paper was pale purple, too."

"Uh… those are my new poison tags…" I mumbled, erasing part of the wind seal. "I want to test them in the exam… Yellow stripe means they're tranquilliser tags. They still need direct contact with the enemy to work… _Damn! _Stupid wind seal… these things are so hard to work with…"

"What about the green tags?" she asked, still bothering me. Damn it, couldn't she see I was trying to work here?

"They were an attempt at a Leaf-signature seal gone awry," I muttered, tapping my chin with my pencil. What if I shifted that part, moved the second node… no, that would reverse it… but if I moved it _there _and connected it to _those _two chakra paths…"Aha! I think I've got this! No, wait… argh! Stupid freeze tag. Uh, wait, the green tag seals? They're mud tags. Not lethal but good for a scare. Unless they're the new ones I was going to test… in which case they're quite possibly lethal until I work the kinks out of them."

"LISTEN UP, MAGGOTS!" I heard the proctor bellow. As my team shifted towards her, me putting my seal notebook back in my bag, I caught her muttering faintly about aspirin, Panadeine, and Tylenol, accompanied by a strong whiff of alcohol, and I winced.

"Hey guys?" I said quietly, getting my teammates' attention. "Talk softly around the proctor and be nice. She has a hangover – the _mother _of all hangovers, from the smell I'm getting."

Sasuke muttered something under his breath. Something to do with _so why did she break the window, then…?_

I listened to Anko's explanation of the second test, frowning internally. This could be a problem – I'd never been in the Forest of Death before. I was working _totally _blind, instead of having a pre-researched map to help. Then I let out a slow breath, reminding myself that even the Wave mission turned out okay. We'd get through this. Somehow.

"Here," Sasuke said, handing me a sheet of paper and tapping it near the bottom. "Sign this."

"What's it for? I heard hangover-lady say something about waivers," I told him as I skimmed my fingers over the area he'd tapped to find the 'sign here' line.

"It's to say we know the dangers of this test. Y'know, so if we get killed the village won't get in trouble."

I nodded as I scrawled my messy signature on the paper. "I expected something like that." Mentally, though, I was frowning and taking note of that. This exam would be a perfect time for the up-and-coming genin teams to get snuffed, with no problems. An ambitious village could even sneak in undercover top ninja to kill off as much of the competition as possible. And it would be almost impossible to prove, and then react.

I snorted aloud at my own paranoia and handed the waiver back to Sasuke. Like anyone would have the audacity to do that. Then again, everyone would assume no one would have the audacity to paint the Hokage Monument or electrify the staffroom coffee maker.

I was scanning the chakra signatures of the crowd, trying to sense anyone who was offkey, and taking note that that Gaara guy was sending out waves of his murderous aura, when I heard the faint rustle and then the skim of metal cutting the air, and I instantly ducked out of the way, tipping my head aside and spinning on my heel to face whoever had thrown the kunai at me.

…Now that I think about it, I reacted very calmly, considering. I think I'm getting too used to getting randomly ambushed.

"Yo, brat, pay attention or you might lose your head!" the proctor taunted. I didn't respond except to straighten up and narrow my eyes at her, tilting my head slightly. She was unlikely to _actually _kill me – too much paperwork – so she was just trying to psych me out. A tiny trickle of blood ran down my cheek, but I wasn't bothered – the cut wasn't serious. I had barely felt it at all anyway.

"Che," she snorted, then I went stiff as someone came up behind me, edging away, closer to Sasuke, before focusing my every sense on the suppressed chakra essence. It was just _wrong. _The man reeked of snake and poison, scents I had hated for years, and I felt my lip curling for a second before I forcibly blanked out my expression. This signature felt kind of like Kakashi-sensei's, or Old Man Hokage's – sort of solid, heavy, and _How old is this guy? He can't be under thirty…_ but muffled around the edges, so that if someone who wasn't as good as me sensed it, all they would feel was genin-level chakra. But I was better. I'd had practise. And after Wave I sensed the shadow, the 'void' of so much more chakra behind it, lurking in wait. It was a creepy feeling.

This signature meant trouble.

"You dropped your kunai," a snake-like voice hissed, and I recoiled away from the reek of venom as the proctor said, "Ah, thanks. Now if you'd like to stop leaking killing intent, Grass brat, before I take it as a threat?" Her voice was mild, but there was a hidden threat of pain in it.

_Killer intent? _I had barely noticed it, although there was quite a bit, considering we hadn't even started yet.

"Ah, sorry," the now identified Grass-nin hissed, "I suppose the smell of blood got me a little… _excited._"

"Shut up and get to your gates," Anko ordered, and I followed my teammates to the gate that they had apparently chosen while I was sensing out the competition.

"You guys ready?" Sasuke asked, more to me than Sakura. I nodded cheerfully, taking a deep breath to steady myself and fingering the tag bundles in my pocket, while Sakura assured him that she was as ready as she was going to get.

FWEEEE!

The whistle blew, and I heard the gates in front of us creak open. We took off running.

We stuck to the ground for a few minutes, Sasuke's hand brushing the trees and my teammates' footsteps guiding me through the forest. For quite a while we just ran, getting some distance, until Sasuke paused and tapped my hand – a signal we needed to talk. I quickly the area, finding no one, and then scanned it again more slowly, even checking underground and sensing nothing more than wildlife.

I eventually nodded. "Ok, we're clear, but keep it quiet."

"Thanks," Sasuke said softly. "We need a password, so that if we get split up we won't be welcoming enemies into our party by mistake. Something easy to remember but hard to guess."

"Maybe the password should be individual, to make it harder to infiltrate," Sakura suggested.

I frowned suddenly and held up two fingers, a signal for silence I hoped they'd recognise – there, no, there, a flicker, not quite right… there. I focused in on the spot, not too concerned, but wary nonetheless. Someone trying to spy – the chakra shielding was only high genin/low chuunin, no real issue, but his vitals had given him away. Not a threat – just some random from… Ame, I think.

"We shouldn't stay in one place for too long," I said aloud, gently testing my senses to check if his teammates were in range. I didn't think so.

Sasuke got my hint and we started to run again, flitting between the trees and quickly leaving the Rain-nin behind – he couldn't keep up with us and stay hidden. When we stopped again I checked the area, then started to speak quietly.

"Okay guys, I'm going to warn you now: look out for that team from Grass, and _stay the hell away from them. _There is something very wrong about them and I don't want us to be the ones to find out what it is.

"Second team not to go near is the Sand team. That Gaara guy, there's something not right about his chakra. He could probably kill any one of us in an instant, and again, I'd rather not find out. His teammates are pretty dangerous, too, but nothing on his level.

"All the other teams are fair game, but keep an eye out for those two. I'll give you any warning I can, but I don't know what kind of stealth they have. They may be able to slip past."

"They're only genin," Sakura argued, quietly. "They can't be _that _good; you can sense jounin easily, even when they're hiding their chakra."

I shook my head flatly. "The Grass team, at least one of them is so far above genin level it's not funny," I said grimly. "I sensed out his chakra – it's suppressed, very well, but I've been doing this long enough to sort of shadow-sense what they're hiding."

I swallowed and fell silent, until Sasuke asked, "What power level would you guess? Jounin, high chuunin?"

I shook my head slowly, remembering that heavy weight in my awareness. "I think we're talking Kage level and up."

Sasuke swore softly. "What the hell are they playing at? Someone like that could slaughter every genin here without breaking a sweat!"

"I don't know, but be on your guard," I said flatly. "Now password, fast, before someone shows. Team for now, we may do individual later in the test when things get more desperate."

"Let the fire begin, and we fight until the last one stands," Sasuke said quietly. "Return phrase is 'when the last one standing falls, the fire burns from the ashes, and the cycle begins again'. Got it?"

"Wait," I ordered, my mind deserting the password problem for a more immediate one, "what the hell is _that?_"

"What's what?" Sakura asked.

"That _noise. _It's like… I don't know…" I turned to face it, and felt the blood drain out of my face as I finally recognised the sound, and the magnitude. "Start running."

"What? What is it?" Sakura demanded; to my annoyance they hadn't moved.

"It's a GODDAMN GIANT SNAKE! MOVE YOUR GODDAMN ASSES!"

Suddenly grasping the gravity of the situation, the pair started sprinting, me on their heels. "I'm starting to see what that Anko chick meant when she said 'dangerous fauna'!" Sasuke called, rapping his knuckles sharply on a nearby tree that I immediately dodged to the left to avoid. "_Hate _to see what she meant for the flora!"

I was about to agree when something roughly the size of a building slammed into my side, knocking me flying. Low hanging branches and foliage whipped against my face and limbs as I rolled to a stop in the shrubbery. For several seconds I lay still, ears ringing, before shaking my head and scrambling to my feet. "Sasuke?" I called uncertainly, turning my head and trying to listen for my team's footsteps. "Sakura?"

Then I couldn't help screaming as something hot and wet closed over me, and everything turned upside down and I was dizzy and sick and I couldn't breathe and the smell was _horrendous –_

Snake. The fucking snake. The fucking snake _ate _me!

Ewwwww!

"Alright, this thing is so dead!" I snarled, my voice muffled to my own ears, struggling in the snake's throat. "KAGE BUNSHIN!"

The tiny, cramped, damp, _moving _space was starting to fill up with shadow clones, and I held the jutsu, creating more and more and more and more –

There was a muffled shriek, and then the wet pressure was gone and me and the hundred Kage Bunshin stumbled and landed on the ground.

"Eww…" one of them groaned.

"Was that thing a summon or a real snake?" another asked.

I spat, trying to clear my mouth, then retched, emptying my stomach onto the grass, the acid searing my mouth and throat and burning away the taste. I moaned, and my stomach wrenched again, making me cough and spit at the foul taste. "I think it was real; I'm tasting blood that ain't mine."

"Yuuuck!" whined another clone.

I staggered to my feet, still spitting violently, and turned in a small circle, trying to get my bearings back. "Spread out and search for the others. If you find them, flare your chakra or something to get our attention, and everyone circle in. Got it?"

"Yessir!" a hundred voices answered me, and soon the air was filled with stumbles, curses and the occasional 'poof' of a clone accidentally dispelling itself when it tripped over. More than one walked headfirst into trees, making me roll my eyes – god, clones were really pathetic sometimes. I shoved my irritation aside at a sudden flash of familiar chakra, the sweeping rush I would always recognise as my own backed with Kyuubi's fire. One of my clones had found my teammates, frantically running on and calling out, trying to find me.

I took off at a sprint in the direction of the chakra flash, which was rapidly dying away – the clone had dispelled itself on something – with other bunshin on my tail, closing in on their location. The Forest of Death was actually kinda cool, I mused, dodging a thorned shrub that had just killed a clone. Maybe me and Sasuke could come here to train sometimes.

I half-paused as I came close enough to begin to hear speech, confused by what my senses were registering. _Don't tell me that snake was poisonous or something… _None of it made sense – it sounded like me talking, but it wasn't one of my clones – hell, it wasn't even my chakra. That made no sense –

Henge. Illusion. Genjutsu.

Aha. That was it – someone henged as me. At least I had recognised it as an illusion this time.

I clearly heard my own voice reciting the password I only half-remembered, and I slowed up a little out of uncertainty. Launching myself straight in there was, flatly, not a good idea. The chakra I was sensing… wasn't it the same as that Rain-nin's…? I couldn't tell; it was warped slightly by the henge, and I was still too far off. I had to get closer.

Sasuke, it seemed, wasn't fooled by the henge or the perfect password, as the next thing I heard from him was a harsh, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

The confused answer of 'five' was not the one he was looking for, and he attacked instantly.

I swore under my breath as they started to move off again, leaving behind the Rain ninja as they continued to search for me. Morons. They'd _find _me a whole lot faster if they stood still and let me catch up to them!

I brushed rather violently against a tree that I hadn't known was there and stumbled with a curse, swiping at my stinging arm. _Stupid bark, stupid bush, stupid thorns, stupid forest, stupid teme… _I couldn't go any slower – not if I ever wanted to catch up – but sheez, what I wouldn't give for a map right now…

Then a pulse of killer intent and venomous chakra flushed through the forest, and I nearly choked in horror at the sensations rushing through me, stumbling slightly before running on. My sensitivity to killer intent was dulled naturally thanks to the furball constantly projecting it from the back of my head, but _this… _this was fresh, pure, unsealed, unmuffled murder.

Someone was going to die.

I just hoped to Kami it wasn't Sasuke or Sakura.

My clones were attempting to follow the noises and were systematically dispelling themselves crashing into trees, shrubs and large tigers. With a growl of "Idiots" I took off in what I thought was the vague direction of my teammates (though I was probably just randomly making the feeling of _it's this way_ up, as I knew I was completely lost) and promptly smashed into a tree myself. I followed them on ground level with a curse, rubbing my sore cheek – no way could I do tree-jumping in an unmapped area. I'd kill myself in four seconds flat. I just wished they'd slow down – I was already bruised up from all the trees I couldn't see (and it was a miracle I'd missed as many as I had).

I had to catch up to them.

And suddenly, I could hear them talking again, hear Sasuke's harsh warning, hear Sakura's panting, hear the softer breathing of the nin who was facing them, sense his shadowed, suppressed, dangerous chakra.

Hear his sneering, 'friendly' voice with the evil so badly hidden.

I sprinted up the nearest tree, gripping with both hands and feet and then springing from all fours, from an animalistic stance at the snake-essence, teeth bared and a feral scream of rage ripping out of my throat.

How _dare _he hurt my teammates?

I smelt the blood, smelt the fear, smelt the rage and terror and pain as I lashed out at the snake, barely missing and _accidentally _knocking a scroll from his fingers that had the faint sign of one of those scrolls Anko had been handing out. There were twin flickers of relief from my teammates' chakra, and one of annoyance from the snake's. "It seems you survived," he hissed, and I pinned the irritation in his voice with a smirk.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you'll find it extremely hard to kill me," I snarled, springing towards my teammates and hoping I wasn't about to miss the branch and hit the floor. To my relief there was solid wood under my feet, and I stood back up on two legs as I held out the scroll I'd snatched and said, "Hey, is this important?"

"Naruto…" Sasuke began calmly, "I love you. That's the Earth scroll we need!"

"Really?" I turned my head to 'look' at the scroll I was holding. "Wow, I'm _good._"

Killer intent flared from the snake, making all three of us wince, and I said sweetly, "Aw, does the snakey not like being ignored? Well, _too bad, bub!_" I tucked the scroll into an inside pocket of my jacket, to make it harder to steal back.

"Oooh, that sounded weird," Sakura snorted shakily.

"'Specially coming from him," Sasuke agreed with a 'che' that translated to laughter.

Then we all dodged as a volley of shuriken came our way.

I felt Sasuke's chakra fluctuate as he formed a Goukakyuu, and followed up his movements with a hail of kunai, tagging three of them with my own brand of explosives. Apparently Sasuke noticed the strips of paper, as he immediately dodged back, ready to dive for cover. _Hmm… may need to work on the camouflage of those tags…_

BOOM!

There was a massive explosion, and I could hear the tree creaking ominously as the snake's chakra hurriedly split itself into several copies – I'd never sensed the jutsu before, but it had the taste of a Doton, so… dirt clones, if I had to guess?

In the rush of adrenaline and terror it was impossible to track him, and I was already in trouble, I knew – I had no idea where I was, where the branches were. All I could do was track Sasuke's movements as he sprang from branch to branch and attacked the clones sporadically, adding in an explosive tagged kunai whenever I could pin down a clone with my hearing. Sakura was throwing shuriken, I think, and trying to weave a genjutsu, but even I could have told her that it was a wasted effort – this guy was way out of our league. We needed to get out of here and fast.

"Sasuke!" I bellowed, wrapping a tag around another kunai – this one a test tag. He ran for it straight away, landing near Sakura, and as the blade shot towards the Grass-nin I took out a pair of mud clones that had been sneaking up on my teammates.

**BOOOOM!**

"Okay, that was _soooo _not the intended effect, but I need to remember that formula," I decided, ears still ringing.

The angry hissing from my left was not unexpected, and I merely bared my teeth in response to the wordless threat, reaching for another tag. Sasuke and Sakura suddenly let out choked cries of horror and I sprang back instantly, backing against the tree trunk before looking at them and calling anxiously, "What's wrong? Sasuke, what's happening?" No answer but a strangled sob which only scared me more. "Sasuke?"

"So Shikumi doesn't affect you, eh?" the man said silkily. "You don't even bat an eyelid at killer intent that would knock out a tiger. You're stronger than you look."

"I'll take that as a compliment, you snake," I growled. "Sasuke, snap out of it! Teme! Wake up! What the hell is _wrong _with you?"

The enemy ninja let out a disturbing peal of laughter, and then Sasuke's chakra flared as he grabbed Sakura and sprang to another branch, stifling a cry of pain. "Sasuke?"

"I'm fine, dobe, it's just a scratch!" His sharp, gasping reply was music to my ears and I relaxed, relieved. Then I let the anger build up inside, needing the furious power for the growing confrontation. This guy was so dead.

Sasuke had strung wires across the trees – I could hear the wind itself being cut and slashed by the razor-edges of the metal threads. I grinned viciously. I could feel the heavy, choking, burning chakra of the Kyuubi surfacing, felt it start to sear my coils, burn my skin, and I waited no longer, letting go of my anger and lashing out.

Instantly the Grass-nin bolted out of reach, brushing one of Sasuke's tripwires and having close to a thousand volts shot through him in a burst of raw chakra. I grinned again. The shock tags had been worth the long hours and repeatedly exploded living room.

He landed, breathing heavily, and I heard Sasuke's quick breathing a few metres above and to my right. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, but I could still hear clearly enough for the snake's words to reach my mind: "Well, _this _is a problem that needs to be fixed."

And suddenly there was an insane amount of pressure on my stomach and I recoiled sharply with a rising cry as fire was dragged through my chakra coils in a spiralling explosion of pain. I fell to my knees, digging one hand into the branch and driving splinters into my fingers as I crouched, doubled over with pain, but the slivers of wood meant nothing in the face of the agony shredding its way through my veins. I clamped down on my scream, forcing it all inwards, pulling my mind under control in time to hear Sasuke shout, "Naruto!"

Trembling, I pulled my feet back underneath me and stood up unsteadily. "I'm okay!" A lie if there ever was one. But the pain was starting to fade, and through the roaring in my ears that was slowly dying down I could hear Sasuke frantically fighting the snake-guy, trying to drive him back with his Katon jutsu and swiftly losing ground himself.

"Oi, teme!" I bellowed, and hurled a thick chunk of bark at our opponent. Stupid, yes. But Sasuke saw the streaks of blue ink against the white tag wrapped around it and covered his eyes instantly as he leaped backwards, letting me follow it up with a red-inked tag as the Grass-nin snatched the bark chip out of the air easily. I grinned as I felt the first fuse give way.

I actually felt the light blasting my skin, making it tingle slightly with the force of it, and felt extremely pleased with how those amplifying seals had worked out. I wasn't sure how they'd do with the flash tags, so I'd made my team's without them, in case they had the random side effect of making the whole thing explode in your hands. I can deal with that – chakra shields while I'm working, and Kyuubi's oh-so-pleasant influence – but in the battlefield, that wasn't so okay.

The snake's howl of pain made the hazard well worth it.

"Sasuke! Back off!" I hollered, and half a second later, the green-inked, high-powered explosive tag went off, and this time, the tree _definitely _collapsed. The green-ink tags aren't perfect yet, but _man, _they pack one hell of a punch.

I leaped over to my team, staggering more than I'd have liked on impact, and gasped out, "What the hell happened? I told you guys to steer clear of this team, this guy in particular!" I put a hand to my stomach with a wince; there was angry red-hot chakra roiling from where it had been suppressed, and it hurt like anything, my muscles still shaking slightly from the shock of having it dragged away. And it was fading fast, blackening in my awareness, but I didn't have the time or concentration to deal with it, my teammates, and the snake at the same time. Team and enemy took priority.

"Naruto, how many fingers am I holding up?" Sasuke panted, sounding worn out.

I stiffened. What the hell? "I'm not that much of an idiot, Sasuke! This is _so _not the time! And you call _me _a moron?"

He breathed a sigh of relief and said, I guessed to Sakura, "It's the real one this time." Then, to me again, "What the hell happened to you? You're covered in blood! Are you hurt? How'd you find us again?"

I sensed the snake's chakra flickering back to life alarmingly and reacted instantly, shoving both my teammates away as he pounced, a long blade singing through the air. Crap. He had a sword. Various swearwords. Various _bad _swearwords.

I threw a handful of shuriken at him, making him bounce back to stick to a nearby tree trunk, painfully aware of my fast-dwindling supply. I had a lot more in a summoning scroll – in my backpack, somewhat inaccessible in the middle of a life-or-death fight. Sasuke had set off one of his wires with a Karyuudan in an attempt to burn him, even slightly, and Sakura was pitching in with a genjutsu that, while not fully affecting him, would probably pull him a little off-balance.

Then I sucked in a breath as his chakra suddenly appeared in front of me, and I heard the blade swinging – I leaned back, twisting away from the razor-sharp edge I could hear cutting the air – it barely skimmed my shoulder, _I couldn't lean back far enough –_

A line of burning pain slashed across my sightless eyes and I barely had time to register the blood running down my face before I was kicked violently backwards, landing _hard _against a tree. All the breath was forced out of my lungs and I could hardly sense myself slumping on the branch, hardly hear Sakura and Sasuke both screaming my name, all of my attention focused on the explosion of pain centred just behind my forehead, lightning blasts of pain building up against my grip on consciousness, and I was barely holding on when I heard –

When Sasuke _screamed._

It wasn't a yelp of pain or shock, or a shout of fear. It was a scream of utter agony.

I forced my mind to focus in on his chakra, which was flickering fiercely, the snake's backing away from him. There was something – a flux, a violent change – on his neck, the corner of his left collarbone/shoulder. My friend had half-collapsed, kneeling on the branch, still screaming, still screaming as loudly as he could, but I could hardly hear it because someone else was screaming – was Sakura hurt, had the snake gotten her, too –

No, _I _was screaming.

As soon as I registered it I choked it back, clamping down on the sound, and suddenly everything around me was that much clearer. I could hear the snake-freak's steady hissing again, hear Sakura's frantic attempts to calm Sasuke down, hear my best friend's screams with an all-new clarity.

I snarled furiously and leapt forwards, my mind focusing on just one thought: making the snake hurt, hurt _him_ as much as he'd hurt Sasuke, making_ him_ scream like Sasuke was screaming. He wasn't expecting me to recover so fast and so failed to react in time to fend me off properly, receiving several heavy blows before he threw me away. I very nearly missed the branch, dragging myself onto it with muscles that were shaking with badly suppressed rage, and got ready to spring again, ready to attack.

I was pulled up short by Sakura's cry and instantly reeled back, jumping back to my team and abandoning the snake in an instant. I staggered on landing and actually went down on my knees, feeling excruciatingly dizzy. Blood loss, I thought dazedly – it was hard to focus on the fact that if the snake-nin came back we'd be very dead, and I didn't even remember him leaving, and Sasuke was still screaming and my head hurt like fire –

Sasuke's screams suddenly cut out and his chakra dropped, making me flinch, but I soon recognised that he had passed out, presumably from the pain. Which left me in charge. Greeeeaat.

"Sakura, can you carry Sasuke?" I gasped out, getting one foot underneath me and trying to stand. At her affirmative noise, "Can you carry him and support me? I'm too dizzy to jump straight. You need to take us to a spot to recover. We can't stay here – we made a whole lot of noise, and there's blood everywhere, there'll be teams all over us in minutes."

"I – I'll try," she stammered, sounding terrified. And she didn't try to say anything else.

* * *

Okay, so this chapter ended up getting split in two because it was so dang long… twelve thousand words, at one point, before it was even _finished_.

And yet again: sheer. Dumb. Luck. Naruto has no end to his stores, it seems.

I'm going to get a lot of 'what the hell's for this, I know, and if it's worth anything, guys, I'm sorry for depriving you of the amusement of the eventual discovery. However, my muse pulled some strings I wasn't aware I had, and then ganged up with my twin's muse and things kind of went downhill from there…

Soo, apologies. Hope you guys don't kill me for this… (winces)

In other news, Who I Am is currently on five hundred and seventy eight alerts lists. If this chapter gets five hundred and seventy eight reviews, even shrieks of rage or incoherent wailing, I will update _tomorrow_.


	12. White Light

Twin2: Why is it that whenever you promise an update, the Internet crashes? Stupid decade-old modem…

Okay, I guess it's officially 'tomorrow'. Now, I didn't get 578 reviews for the chapter – I never expected to, and only made that comment as a joke. I didn't expect so many people to take it seriously, and I _especially_ didn't expect to get more than thirty percent of my stated 578 reviews – that's 197 reviews for one chapter. Wow. Now, the real reason I'm updating is because although I didn't get the total amount of reviews I said I wanted to put this up now, when Twin1 went to check her email (where your reviews are sent), the expression on her face and her choking on her Coke until Dad rushed in all ready to do CPR was _so _worth the sleepless night I had writing this. I love you guys! Lol. You, as a collective, managed to make me laugh until my sides ached. Also, this chapter is dedicated to reviewer Anonymous 1-10 for her 10 reviews, and quite possibly a few more. You were probably the most compelling factor in this update, so this one's for you! Twin1 actually broke down in tears and begged me to finish this chapter what with all the death threats and tearful pleading in her inbox.

Twin1: Why is everyone yelling at me?

Twin2: On the other hand, I'm not too happy with this chapter. It's just… y'know. Off. If anyone can quantify it, please feel free to drop us a line; it's driving me crazy.

* * *

**Twelve: White Light**

I was sitting straight-backed beside Sasuke in a shelter created by natural barricades of tree roots, my hitai-ate in my hand, while Sakura dabbed uncertainly at the blood on my face. Finally I sighed and said, "Sakura, just – just bind them, already. Do it properly, and don't worry about hurting me. No matter how gentle you are, it's gonna hurt, so at least do it right. Please. Before I pass out from blood loss. I honestly dunno why I haven't already…"

"O–okay. C-can you…"

"I'll try not to scream," I said flatly, "just hurry up. I'm getting really dizzy, and you'll need me as an advance guard while we wait for Sasuke to wake up."

I couldn't help letting out quiet yelps as she wrapped gauze firmly around my slashed eyes, but Sakura didn't hesitate, and I bit down on the sounds and let her tie it off, forcing myself not to fight against the cloth.

I let out a shuddering breath, swearing violently in my head as Sakura pulled her hands away and backed off, me wiping shakily at the blood still on my own face with a damp cloth and grimacing at the sticky feeling on my fingers. "We'll only stay here overnight, whether or not Sasuke wakes up. If we can get to the Tower quick enough we'll be able to get some good, _safe _rest, and some medical attention for him, too. I really don't like the feel of that chakra flux."

I heard Sakura nod, and then she squeaked, sounding embarrassed, and said, "Sounds like a good plan to me." I frowned slightly – not enough to disturb my eyes – what was her problem? What was there to be embarrassed about?

I shrugged it off as a girl thing and continued, "I'll watch Sasuke; you stay on guard. We're not going to be getting much sleep tonight, I'm afraid." Putting one hand in my pocket, I separated out my remaining tag bundles, finding the one I was looking for. "Sakura, here." I handed her half of the tags from the sheaf I had selected, explaining, "These are, or should be, tranquilliser tags. Slap them on a person like you would an explosive tag to a branch and activate it and it'll knock 'em out for at least twelve hours. Just don't use it on Leaf nin if you can avoid it – they're still in the test stages and I don't know if the effect is strong enough to kill or not." I had nerve tags as well, but they were nowhere near as certain to work – I only started on them after Wave, and I didn't want to accidentally hurt my teammate if the tags went bad and exploded randomly. Which they were still kind of prone to doing.

As Sakura left the shelter of the buttress roots I leaned back with a silent groan. It really was a miracle I hadn't collapsed from blood loss already – head wounds bleed a lot, and this one was no mere scratch. I was fairly sure I hadn't healed already because something was up with the fox (the bellowing pain that still reverberated in my belly was a pretty good clue), but guessed enough of his chakra was still running through my coils to stop the bleeding a little. But still, it was only a guess. I had no idea what the hell was going on.

Leaves whispered as I wiped Sasuke's forehead gingerly – he was overheating, feverish, his breath rasping slightly and his chakra rippling angrily, centring around the flux in his left shoulder. That was seriously going to have to get looked at. "Sasuke," I said quietly, replacing the damp cloth, "you better come through this okay. You hear me? No dying on me. Not now. Not after we've come so far."

There was no obvious response, but I thought he gave a faint sigh that might have meant: _Just hang in there. It'll all be okay in the end._

I half-smiled, and then exhaled slowly, letting my ears focus on the outside world, listening to the scramblings of small animals, the humming of insects, the screaming of a genin team from Kumo… I wonder what they ran into? But it was a long way from us, so I didn't really care.

I took another deep breath, trying not to fidget. My system was still buzzing with adrenaline, even after the long time it had had to calm down, and I found myself twitching incessantly, checking Sasuke's pulse and temperature, scanning the flux every few seconds. Then I flinched, fighting with my stomach, before staggering away to vomit in a nearby bush. My head was _killing _me. It wasn't just my eyes that hurt; it was like that snake-freak attacked my brain as well, making my whole skull radiate pain. _I hope that sword-thing didn't have acid on it…_

I coughed, then spat, rinsing out my mouth, before stumbling blindly back and sitting down near Sasuke again to lean against the tree. I sighed, listening to Sakura's quick, anxious breathing out the front of the little cavern created by the tree roots. I needed something to do, or I'd lose it entirely. Or throw up again. Neither option was that inviting.

I pulled my sealing notebook out of my backpack and flipped it open, going back to the problem of the freeze tags. The problem was that as a general thing, the elements didn't work _together; _they worked _against _each other. You had to change a fundamental part of them to stop them destroying each other inside the tag (boom), but doing that meant they weren't wind and water anymore. It was impossible to just contain them, too; ever tried to put a metaphorical leash on the elements? NOT FUN. Also does not work.

I chewed on my pencil, staring sightlessly at the supposedly innocent seals on the paper with a slight scowl. You can't defuse them enough to get them to connect and work together, and if you separated them far enough for them not to blow up they wouldn't be able to react to make the ice…

A metaphorical light bulb went off in my head, warm and sparking with energy. Directional seals were usually… but if I used them _here… _plus a spiral glyph to bind it all together… put those seals there and that one _there _and change the direction of that rune… those nodes, the connector paths would act as conduits for the extra power and they even had that endothermic tendency that would let them store power –

I grinned at the scramble of notes that the page must look like, then flipped to a new one, wiped my finger over my cheeks (which were wet with blood again) and began to ink in the seals for three freeze tags, following my newly-determined formula.

"Aw, hell yes!" I muttered happily, ripping out the page and carefully tearing the three tags separate. The next unlucky bastards to come across us could be my guinea pigs for these, as opposed to the innocent trees I usually ended up using.

Sasuke groaned softly, and I shifted my focus back onto him, wiping the sweat off his face and changing the cloth. "C'mon, Sasuke, you've beaten worse than this," I told him quietly. "Hang in there, huh? We just gotta get to the tower, but you better wake up before then, bastard – you're damn heavy. You hear me? You gotta wake up."

He didn't respond, though I was hardly surprised – his chakra system was flaring uncontrollably, and the worst of the storm was centred too close to his head. This kind of crap was painful enough, but in your head? That had to hurt like all fuck.

I wrung out a cloth absently, listening to the sound of a genin team arguing off in the west. They were too far for me to make out the words, but they didn't seem to be close enough to be a threat, so I set about finishing the freeze tags: edging them with blood to stop them from going off the second I put chakra into them and deciding on an impact fuse seal, even if they didn't always work – the timers would be unreliable for these ones.

I'd just finished when I realised that the genin team had stopped arguing and were now moving – and heading straight at us. "Shit. Sakura, three hostiles, approaching from the west. Be on your guard."

She gulped, then whispered, "Thanks. Be careful."

I frowned, wondering what she meant, then turned back to my best friend as he coughed weakly, chakra fluttering disconcertingly. I checked his pulse again, changing the cloth as I listened to the approaching team suspiciously and relaxing slightly as Sasuke's coughing fit calmed. The three advancing genin were just that: genin. Their chakra was normal, if with a different feel to most others, and it wasn't aged or shadowed.

All the same, three enemy genin was probably three more than my team could handle right now.

I heard a squirrel scurrying around, far too close to our camp, and cocked one eyebrow as I realised it had just escaped from the three genin, who had stopped moving for now. The sound of a kunai landing in the dirt made me twitch, and the squirrel bolted away. I guessed Sakura hadn't wanted it to set off whatever traps she had set up.

Then I heard voices, unfamiliar ones, talking quietly, out of most people's range of hearing. Well, sadly for them, I'm not most people.

"She noticed the explosive tag on the squirrel?"

_There was a tag on the squirrel?_

"I don't think so."

"Then what…"

"I think we'll find out if we get closer."

That was two males; I guessed the third was female, judging from footsteps and the usual way genin teams were set out, but I couldn't be certain. Exceptions to every rule and all that shit.

"So… let's get going."

I quietly warned my teammate, "Get ready, Sakura; they're coming."

She squeaked in fear, but I was preoccupied with Sasuke's violent shivering. Damn, he was just going from one extreme to the next!

I wondered vaguely what time it was. If I really tried, I could guess it from the lengths of shadows on the ground, or the strength of sunlight, but that was difficult, and not something I usually bothered with; I'd just ask Sasuke. Not to mention I could usually only tell 'day' and 'night'. But the thought fled my mind as I heard a male genin's voice, one of the ones from just earlier, say mockingly, "Keeping guard all night?"

I huddled down instinctively against the bark of the tree roots, wondering if they could see me. Hoping that the answer was 'no'.

"Wake up Sasuke-kun. We want to fight him."

I froze. Fight Sasuke? What the hell for? There were stronger, more impressive genin out there to prove themselves against, and we were unlikely to be targeted as easy prey. Okay, so we _were _rookies… I paid only vague attention to Sakura's sharp voice demanding various answers, preferring to mull over my own questions and put a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder when he shuddered, his chakra flashing tiredly. The internal fight was wearing him out. _Hang in there, Sasuke…_

"Hmm… I wonder what that man could be thinking…" There was a definite sneer in the guy's voice as he spoke, and I frowned slightly. That had something to do with 'that mark', the power flux in Sasuke's neck, which was still just as violent as before.

"But hearing that, we can't let you go," the other male added. "I'll kill you. And I'll kill this Sasuke-guy, too."

I bared my teeth. Yeah right. They'd have to get through me first!

"Wait, Zaku," said the first one, and I instantly pinned the name to the second male voice. "How unoriginal… What use is a trap if it's noticed?"

_They spotted one of Sakura's traps?_

"Che, how sad," 'Zaku' said snidely. "She threw the knife so the squirrel wouldn't get caught."

"Let's kill her now," said the first genin, and I could hear the malicious grin in his voice. My heart started to pound as I reached for a weapon, hearing all three of the enemies push off from their vantage points, all headed towards us, and then there was a sharp 'twang' as Sakura cut a wire. I raised my eyebrows at the size of the log I could hear swinging down towards them, and grinned. Sakura had definitely improved from the bratty fangirl who'd been a footstool in Sensei's bell test, thinking to trap the above as well as below.

Then there was an incredible blast of air – not _sound, _just _air_ – that shoved against me, no doubt far more violent outside of the shelter. _What the hell?_ I thought frantically, shifting my feet so that I was ready to move if I had to. I was about to charge out, weapons flying, when a voice made me relax as I realised we were okay, at least temporarily. Rock Lee had come to the rescue. Thank Kami-sama for his insane crush on Sakura and inability to back down from a challenge.

The blows I could hear landing sounded very painful, and I made a note to watch out for this guy (on top of all the other mental notes on Rock Lee. Seriously, there was enough mental paper in there to make a mental tree…). His taijutsu was very impressive, and his speed was nothing to sniff at.

I listened to them exchanging blows, half of my focus on Sasuke, who was groaning quietly between gritted teeth. I was starting to get really worried; the flux wasn't getting any better, I still had no clue what it was, and his system was getting exhausted from the constant fight. If I had better chakra control I might risk giving him a bit of my chakra to help fight whatever was the problem – my chakra was volatile enough to drive it out – but I didn't, so I couldn't.

Then I jerked and clapped my hands over my ears, gritting my teeth against a blast of air and ringing sound that shot needles of pain straight through my eardrums into the centre of my brain, hot pulses of fire burning in my head and making tears come to my eyes, which made the deep wound there sting. But I paid it no mind, forcing my hands even tighter over my ears and trying to block the painful noise.

Then it was gone, and I tried to drag myself back to the present, my skull still echoing with the vicious ringing. Other sounds, people talking, filtered through to my agonised mind, but I couldn't focus on them, my brain flickering from one thing to the next in a confused, pained jumble.

Slowly I regained my grip on my senses and consciousness, finding myself crouched on the ground beside Sasuke, my head in my hands. I could hear the Sound genin jeering as Sakura fought them – _Sakura!_

I shot to my feet at the sound of kunai meeting flesh and darted forwards to the entrance, trying to build a mental map of the situation. All I could tell was Sakura was in close quarters combat with – was it Zaku couldn't tell life signs right – and I could smell the blood and there was _another _team in the shrubbery but no that was just Team Ten – I hope to _Kami _they don't attack us – and I shouted, "Sakura, use a tag!"

I don't know if that was her original plan or not, but there was the tiny flare of chakra needed to activate a tag, and then she was scrambling away. I held my breath, waiting for the tag to blow, but nothing happened…

…until Zaku crumpled to the ground.

"Aw hell yes," I murmured, grinning. "Looks like the tranquilliser tags are a win."

"Zaku!" Yep, definitely a girl as the third party member. "What the hell? Get up, you lazy bum!"

No reply. I smirked. Aw _hell _yes.

"Che, do I have to do _everything _myself?" the girl complained, and suddenly she was standing above Sakura, making me stiffen in surprise. I'd heard her moving, but that was still rather impressive.

"You'll never survive as a kunoichi when you're more worried about your looks than your weapons," her cold voice said, and I heard Sakura yelp in pain, putting me on edge as I reached for a tag slowly. But if Sakura was there, she'd get caught in the blast – this wasn't going to be easy –

"I mean, your hair is perfectly silky smooth! Great for a model – useless for a ninja!" Sakura seemed to be being shaken – had she been grabbed from behind? No – she was being shaken by the _hair – _Kami, that _had _to hurt!

I seemed to have been forgotten temporarily, and I quickly flicked through my repertoire, trying to think of something I could do to save my teammate – and Sasuke's breathing was getting harsher by the minute. Explosive tags too strong, shock and flash tags too inclusive (I'd hurt Sakura too), other tags contact-based –

I heard the buckle of Sakura's weapons pouch clink, raising an eyebrow as Kin sneered, "What're you gonna do with that kunai? It's not like you're strong enough to actually hurt me!"

And Sakura's quiet reply: "It's not for you."

And the sound of a kunai slashing through hundreds of threads reached my ears.

Sakura's feet were suddenly moving again and my mind computed that she had cut her hair to escape, that there were now two free targets –

_Let's see what these new freeze tags can do!_

In an instant I had hurled two kunai unerringly at the remaining genin, and there was a yelp of shock that was cut off with an odd 'crack' through the air – not like bone snapping, something different. The second tag just exploded in a blizzard of freezing air on contact, making both me and its target – the male genin – curse. "Damn! What was wrong with _that _one? Although that was a cool wrong." The only thing better than a tag doing exactly was it was supposed to was a tag exploding in a whole new way! Hmm… I think that it was that node… did I…? I think I must have, if it reacted like that. The wind seal must have fed through one of those endothermic nodes too many times, overridden the diverter and built up a circular path… or even just enough power… that would probably do the trick…

"You little _brat!_" the girl snarled, and I glanced in her direction, wondering what had happened with the tag aimed at her. She was breathing heavily and – I thought – shaking slightly. Hm.

"What happened there?" I asked Sakura, pointing at the girl – Kin, I think was her name – who only cursed at me.

"You froze her feet to the ground," Sakura said, sounding awed.

"Awesome!" That had been the intended effect for these ones; I had finally gotten it to work! "Now, what shall I do with these idiots?"

"W-what about Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, and I shrugged carelessly. He was behind me, and I could hear everything for ages. He was fine where he was for a minute or two.

Aloud I said, "Sasuke's just going to have to take care of his own unconscious ass for a while. Is Lee okay?"

"He's – he's out cold, and he's pretty beat up, that air-thing – his eardrums–"

"Messed with his balance," I muttered, nodding. "Yeah, I felt it. Bastards. I don't think it was strong enough for his ears to go entirely, though. He should be fine with a little recovery time."

I decided then and there that I _hated_ Sound ninja. Their whole attack theme seemed incredibly unfair to me. I shook my head, trying to dispel the ringing. And it wasn't just this fight – since we'd come to the forest, it had been explosion after loud clash after screaming genin with no end in sight. In the midst of a battle, I had managed to dismiss the noise, but it irritated me in hindsight. And my head hurt. And I was dizzy. That creep, next time I met him I'd cut _his _eyes out, see how _he _liked it… grumble.

If I could find him again, that was. His voice and creepy snake-scent were ingrained in my memory, but I realised that I didn't have a name to match with the markers.

Eh. I'd ask Sasuke when he woke his ass up.

My eyes were still bleeding sluggishly, and I wondered idly if the euphoric I-don't-give-a-damn had something to do with that as I swivelled my head in a sick parody of looking around. Heh. Give the stuck-up Hyuuga in that tree nightmares, seeing me with blood dripping down my cheeks and bandages tight around my eyes.

But so far at least he hadn't attacked us, and as long as it stayed that way, I wouldn't have to deal with him. Instead I focused on the annoying Sound genin – the two who were still conscious, I mean. Number three probably wasn't getting up for a while. The girl was struggling, yelping occasionally as she tried to get free. If she'd had access to ranged weapons she'd probably have proved it already, so no danger there. It was the last one who could be dangerous if he wanted to. But with a little luck, and a lot of bravado, I might be able to scare him off.

Slowly, I let my head tilt to the side, and grinned. "Two down, one to go," I said conversationally. "Would a level two explosive tag be overkill, Sakura?"

"Um… maybe," she said uncertainly. _Damn it, Sakura, you're supposed to be a genius! Catch on already!_

"Aw, you never let me have any fun," I whined anyway. "You've seen them! It wouldn't cause _that _much of a mess!"

At this point Sasuke would have said something sarcastic along the lines of _Is that the level two that exploded the giant snake all over your clothing or the level two that desiccated a square kilometre of heavy jungle? _and while Sakura's response wasn't as good as his would have been, it still did the trick: "Naruto, I've seenyour apartment. Your idea of 'mess' does _not _tally with mine."

Well, as far as I knew, she'd never actually seen my apartment, so apparently she'd gotten the picture. Finally. I pouted, crossing my arms and looking as put out as I could manage. "What if they won't go away? _Then _can I?"

"Hmm…" She sounded like she was considering it, though the Sound guy didn't seem all that upset, and then something exploded well behind us, sparks and shrapnel dotting our little clearing. That was another team down…

"Oh, _that's _where I left that tag," I exclaimed, trying for delight. Sakura stifled a snort, and finally, _finally, _the last Sound genin folded.

"Very well." He shifted, feet scuffing the grass. "I concede defeat to a superior force. If I leave you my team's Earth Scroll, will you let me take my teammates and leave without further struggle?"

I automatically glanced at Sakura, thinking quickly as his female teammate spluttered and screeched. We didn't need another scroll – we had both, now; we were in the clear. On the other hand, if these guys _didn't _have a scroll, it would make it much harder for them to pass this exam. They'd aggravated my headache – which was now the size of a small country – harassed my teammate, and had been going after Sasuke. I wasn't feeling particularly charitable.

"Fine," I growled. "You turn up in my scope again before the end of this, and you'll find out what was making all those explosions earlier."

As the tired, defeated chakra of the Sound team faded away, my focus was drawn to the rest of Lee's team, who were standing over us but not moving. Yet.

I scowled up at their tree. "Are you going to come down and bother us, too?" I demanded, not willing to even try to be subtle.

"Are you going to try to fight us?" the Hyuuga asked in return. Annoying bastard, answering questions with questions. Neji, his name was… eh. At this point, I really didn't care. "Use one of those 'level two' explosive tags of yours to run us off?"

"No," I said frankly. "I mean, if I had to get rid of you guys I'd just hit you with a tranquillizer tag like the Sound dude got. You'd _probably _survive it… well, maybe. In here survival's more of a question than an answer."

There was a distinct pause as the two glanced at each other, before the girl I'd nearly trampled in that training exercise all those months ago cleared her throat and said carefully, "How about we just take Lee and get out of your hair?"

I could be perfectly happy with that arrangement, and told them so.

Team Ten, it seemed, had decided that discretion was the better part of valour, as I'd heard nothing from them for a long while, not so much as an intake of breath. Annoyingly I couldn't remember when that had happened, but if they'd decided to sneak off without bothering us, so much the better. I was in no mood to be dealing with more people now, not with Sasuke shifting again –

Sasuke!

I scrambled back to my fallen friend; he was panting, twitching, making odd, soft little noises that I couldn't classify, but his heartbeat was sharp and steady, and – his chakra was starting to settle, just a bit. It would clearly still hurt like a bitch, but hey, anything was a good sign at this point. "Sasuke? Hey, can ya hear me? Come on, man, if you can't hear me then I'm gonna have to get seriously worried about you…"

He groaned, and the tired, pain-filled sound was like music to my ears. "Oh, hell yes! How are you feeling? Come on, buddy, gimme somethin' to work with; pain, blood loss, numbness, somethin' ta do with your chakra 'cos that's some weird shit it's doing there –"

"Naruto, _shuddup,_" he growled.

His voice was faint, hoarse, and gasping, a weak little cough punctuating the end of his sentence, but it was a _response, _for heaven's sake, a _response._

However, it wasn't what I was looking for. "That's not an answer," I informed him crossly. "Come on, come on, come on, you were the idiot who didn't avoid the big scary chakra-dude, now own up to it and tell me what he did!"

The Uchiha tried to move and hissed in pain, slumping back. "How the hell should I know?" he panted. "Ugh… I had the _craziest _dream…"

"Good for you," I told him brusquely. "Can ya get up? We got blood everywhere again, we're gonna have to move soon."

"Good grief, can't you even sit still for five minutes without making a mess?" Sasuke demanded, now struggling to sit. It was obviously a lot more trouble than it was really worth, because he was forcing chakra into his muscles just to be able to move them right –

Chakra made a sharp _crack _against the ground where it sparked, the heat scorching the grass under his hand to a few blades of ash. Sasuke yelped and jerked his arm back, nearly toppling over – Sakura caught him – and I prodded thoughtfully at the burnt spot. "I take it you didn't _mean _to try to set us all on fire?" I said mildly, and my friend swore tiredly at me.

"Chakra just – flashed out," he huffed. "Can't control it…"

I rubbed my jaw, chewing absently on my lower lip as I thought about that. Sasuke's got real good control – when you play with fire most of the time, you have to be able to keep it in check, right? He'd never had the problems I did with random flares.

"The chakra flux," I said aloud, and Sasuke shifted. I read the question in the movement and continued, kicking my feet off to the side so I wasn't sitting on my heels as I did so. "Since you passed out, your chakra's been, like, freaking out. Looks pretty painful, but then what would I know. Anyway, your shoulder looks the worst, which is bad, because your chakra doing cartwheels near your brain is just never a good thing, so –"

"My shoulder?" he interrupted, shifting his hand – probably to rub at his collarbone. "That's… that's where he bit me…"

I gaped at him. "He _bit _you? Oh, gross, have you got _any _idea what that can do? Oh, that's _disgusting…_"

Sasuke poked me, and I quickly went back over what we'd been saying, trying to remember what I was supposed to be – oh, right. "So, um, I think that might have had something to do with it," I finished lamely. "Your chakra was going mad, so… I dunno. It doesn't seem to be doing anything _now, _so… maybe we can get Sensei to take a look at it later."

"Y-yeah, I guess so…" His hand moved again – from the next sound he was running it through his hair or rubbing his head or something. "Damn… that was such a _weird _dream…"

He seemed pretty bothered by it, and my broody Uchiha buddy usually brushed off dreams and nightmares and shit like they were bedbugs or something. "'Bout what?" I asked, wondering if it had anything to do with his chakra. With it in tune with the rest of you, it spazzing like that would do something to your head – maybe dreams…? Something to look into, maybe.

"Just… searching, for something I couldn't find," he murmured, and he was clearly very much out of it or he'd never have been talking about this in front of his already-devout fangirl. "There were… voices… but they didn't make sense. I couldn't figure out what they wanted, so I just sort of ignored them…"

He tried to sit up again, hissing in pain even when I tried to take some of his weight and Sakura supported his other side. "Damn, that Grass dude really did a number on you," I said slowly, still trying to gauge the real level of injury. "I guess… d'you know anything about him?"

The Uchiha, still breathing hard, managed to nod and murmur back, "Y-yeah… not much, I'll admit, and a lot of the crap he was spouting didn't make sense, but… he called himself Orochimaru."

…

"Nope, doesn't mean anything to me," I shrugged.

* * *

A few hours later, we stopped for a break, mostly because Sakura just about collapsed and began to cry, spluttering something unintelligible about my eyes and Orochimaru and being so scared and how she was sorry she hadn't been able to stop him from hurting us… it went on for a while, until Sasuke finally gave in and guided me to sit on the forest floor before moving towards the noise of Sakura's sobs. From her little wail and the thump of two bodies colliding, it sounded like she threw herself into his arms, and Sasuke for once didn't sidestep.

"It wasn't your fault," emo-boy murmured to her. "You did all you could. Sit down – come on, sit – and drink this." I tilted my head, interested. Was he giving her a drug to calm her down, or one to sedate her? I hoped it was the former, because I didn't think I could stand unaided anymore, and there was a weird and worrying tingling starting in my extremities. Sasuke, of course, was pretending to be fine, but I could tell he was shaken up as well. We needed all three of us awake to get out of here.

Still, after a few minutes' quiet sobbing, Sakura slumped over with an audible rustle of clothing, and I listened as Sasuke lowered her unconscious body to lay on the ground and moved back to sit beside me. Now was as good a time as any for a short break.

"Two days in, and we have two people out of three crippled already," he commented grimly, breaking the silence that had gripped our tiny camp (y'know, aside from the leaves and genin screaming from afar).

"Huh?" I glanced up from my boredom-and-stress-induced (and thus completely failed and pointless) attempts to replicate that explosive-freeze formula I'd used on the Sound genin.

"This stupid curse seal makes it dangerous for me to use chakra, and you're blinded – and this time there's no way to hide it."

There was a pause as I considered this. "You sure?"

"Yes. Sakura knows. Lee and his team know. Team Ten – no, scratch that, _Shikamaru _knows. The rest of his team maybe not, unless he tells them. You're not healing as fast as usual – there's absolutely no way for you to say 'I'm not blind'."

I grimaced, biting my lip. "Shit."

Sasuke didn't reply aloud, just shuffled closer and hugged me roughly around the shoulders. I sighed tiredly and went limp, leaning heavily against him, feeling exhausted and miserable. "What're we gonna do, Sasuke? I don't wanna go… but they won't let me be a ninja if I'm blind… that was the whole _point _of hiding it, I knew they'd never let me! I _knew!_"

I buried my face in his shoulder, eyes stinging viciously at the thought of being forced to quit being a ninja. I wouldn't be able to take it – my life as a ninja meant so much to me, and always had, even before I graduated. And Sasuke would be out on missions more and more often, and I'd be left without my best friend.

Sasuke awkwardly patted my head as I shuddered, trying not to sob, and said, "It's not over until it's over, Naruto. Don't give up now. Show them that you're _meant _to be a ninja, that it's in your heart and soul and you _can't _give it up!"

"Why bother?" I whispered, bloodied tears leaking from my broken eyes. "Why _bother?_ They'll just drag me off, saying I'm a health hazard, a danger to my team – and you know what? They'd be right!"

Sasuke sighed, and I knew he was rolling his eyes.

SMACK!

"Ow!" I cringed, putting one hand to the back of my head.

"Snap out of it." I stared at him, confused, and he continued, "You're better than this, Naruto – you can and you _will _be better. Now get up; it's time to go."

I stood up slowly, listening to Sasuke checking his bag and waking Sakura, and smiled. _Don't give up._

I guess it's only fair.

"H-How're you feeling?" Sakura asked timidly, and I grinned, masking my earlier despair all too easily.

"Been better, but hey, I'm conscious."

Sasuke walked over, brushing my arm to be sure he had my attention. "Can you carry your own pack or do you want me to? You lost a lot of blood."

I turned my head to him, offended. "_What _kind of prissy_ sap_ do you take me for?" I picked up my backpack and strapped it down properly, checking that I could reach my sealing scrolls more easily this time – I had refilled my pouch, but it never hurt to be cautious. If we ran into Orochi-freak or Gaara… I didn't want to think about it.

"Naruto, put your hand on my arm," Sasuke instructed me, pulling me from my worries and making me glare instead.

"Sasuke, I'm not a little kid who's gonna wander off!"

"I know," he said patiently. Then, very faintly, so faintly only I would be able to hear him, "But you're not supposed to be able to do this."

I bit my lip, realising the truth in his words. I wasn't _supposed _to have been blind for so long that this felt like being treated like I was four years old again. No one else knew. No one else _could _know. So I sighed harshly and put one hand on the soft cloth of his arm guard, letting my hand tighten around it a little like I was nervous.

"I'm going to start moving," he said, and took a step that I automatically followed, and we started off towards the tower. "We won't be doing tree-climbing – you'll only hurt yourself that way." There was an unspoken question in that comment – _how did you manage it before?_

"I'll learn," I said flatly, and then murmured as quietly as I could, "Nearly killed myself then. Listened for you and Saku, and aimed. All I could do."

Sasuke nodded, then said, after a few minutes of silent travel, "You're doing good – look out for that rock."

I half-paused, and felt around with my foot to find the offending stone before stepping over it. Sakura was silent beside us – probably didn't know what to say, how to handle this. My head was pounding, but I didn't say anything – it wasn't too distracting, and there wasn't much I could do about it, either. Maybe I should think about modifying the tranquilliser tags into instant painkillers…

Then I twitched, and whipped around, a handful of shuriken already flying at the chakra source hiding in the trees, and as it dodged aside with the speed of someone far above genin I stiffened and threw more – the chakra was slightly shielded, maybe _maybe _jounin level – only one, were his team hanging around – he'd deflected one of my weapons, using a kunai – _I smelled snake._

The smell invaded my nose, the same – _the same_ – as the bastard who'd cut my face in half, the one who'd done that to Sasuke, who'd made Sakura cry.

A wave of fear, fear reserved for the one who'd made my eyes useless accessories in the first place rose up in an unprecedented wave. My tired, confused mind overlapped with nightmares, old memories locked away long ago that still stalked my footsteps, and through it all was the snakes, the smell of them, there, here, now, him –

My heart leaped up into my throat and stuck, making breathing hard, and Sasuke was saying something but it was too late it was too late I was gone they were here I could hear themfeelthem_smellsnake_ and just like that, I bolted.

I only got a few paces before a root underfoot snagged my ankle and sent me sprawling, my head smashing against the tree I'd have run into two steps later anyway. I screamed aloud as the rough bark smashed into my temple and dragged across my face, across _my eyes_, jostling Sakura's bandage, sending fire flooding through my body, rippling in agonising waves from my eyes and ohgod there was blood but I had to go I had to leave I couldn't stay notagainnotagainnot-

"Naruto!"

Sasuke. My panicking mind latched onto the voice and I stopped flailing, letting him disentangle me from the tree and its low-hanging branches and pull me into a tight hug. "It's okay, Naruto, you need to calm down," he murmured. "It's okay. You're safe."

I shook my head, unable to tell him how _not safe_ we were, but I was getting dizzy and feeling the ground tilt precariously under me, so I just clung tighter and whimpered when he loosed his hug and instead pulled me to my feet.

"Holy hell, Naruto, what happened to you?" a voice exclaimed, and I instantly pinned the false friendliness as Kabuto. _How does he know my name? I don't understand he smells snakesnakesnakesnake no not quite almost snake? _"Are you okay? That looks _nasty – _I'm a medic-nin, let me take a look at that –!"

"Get lost," I growled straight away, pretending I couldn't hear the half-sob in my voice. Lifting a hand cautiously, I gingerly touched my cheeks, where I could feel moisture, and brought newly-slicked fingers to my mouth. The coppery tang of my blood flooded my mouth and I gagged, then whimpered a little to think how much blood I had to be losing, and tightened my grip on Sasuke. No more running off on my own and re-opening barely closed wounds.

"Naruto, if he's a medic-nin, maybe you should–" Sakura tried.

"No! Get lost!"

"Naruto, let me help you, that _must _hurt!" Kabuto pleaded.

"Stay _away _from my eyes, you_ creep! _I said GET LOST!"

"I think you should leave, Kabuto," said Sasuke firmly, his right hand on his weapons pouch. I almost collapsed with relief that Sasuke was on my side – _what else is new?_ – and finally, my panic began to abate a little.

I didn't relax until Kabuto's signature had backed away from us hurriedly and was too faint and far off to really sense. Then I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and put one hand to my head. "Thanks, Sasuke."

"No problem."

"I don't see why you had to be so rude," Sakura said stiffly, and I tilted my head in her direction just slightly, wondering how she could manage to scold me _now_ of all times, for _that_ of all things.

"Have you forgotten what I told you at the start?" I asked brokenly. "We can't trust Kabuto. His deception skills would put jounin to shame – I think he may actually be a jounin, judging from his speed and chakra," I added as an afterthought.

"But he's a Konoha nin!" Sakura argued.

Sasuke turned his head, to look at me, I think. "He isn't, is he?"

I shook my head slowly, not wanting to aggravate the headache. My chin and jaw were wet and dripping onto my shoulders, I realised dimly, but pushed the thought aside before it could panic me. "No. He reeks of snakes – like that guy from Grass. I don't trust him, and I wouldn't let him near me on a good day, let alone now."

"We can't trust anyone out here," Sasuke put in. "Our only option is to head for the tower. It's all we can do."

By the time we made it to the large structure in the centre of the Forest my head was thudding painfully in time with my heartbeat and I was starting to stumble, my feet not quite following where I wanted them to go. I felt exhausted, leaning on Sasuke heavily, and I felt dizzy and light-headed at the same time as my blood being made of lead.

"Hang in there, Naruto, we've made it to the tower," Sasuke said, and I frowned in confusion. _Tower… we were heading for the Tower, that's right… Why was that?_

"What do these hangings say…" Sakura mused, and I thought dully, _What hangings? Why'd the wind stop? Are we inside? _"Heaven and Earth… mind and body…"

"Forget the riddle!" my friend said sharply, and I vaguely felt someone tapping my face. _Are they trying to get me to wake up? Why is that… I am awake…_ "Naruto, come on, don't die on me now!" _I'm not gonna die on you, teme…_

"Should we open the scrolls?" Sakura asked anxiously. "I mean, Anko said not to until we got to the tower, and, well, we're here…"

"At this stage I don't really care," Sasuke declared, and tugged gently at my jacket – _to get at my scroll, that's right – _there was a rustling of paper – I guessed they had opened the scrolls – and there was a rush of smoky warm air.

"Yo."

Kakashi-sensei's lackadaisical greeting roused me from my bloodloss-induced stupor and I pulled my head off Sasuke's shoulder to smile weakly at him. "Hi, sensei. We made it."

"Naru – _Naruto!_" he choked out, sounding horrified. "What the f – what the hell happened?"

"Orochi-freak happened," I mumbled tiredly. "Bastard nearly killed us, and of course the other genin thought a rookie team was easy prey. Stupid lazy bastards."

Kakashi put one hand on my shoulder and I twitched at the unexpected contact. His other hand gently gripping my opposite elbow, he shifted my weight off Sasuke and then carefully lowered me to the floor, letting me sit down, to my relief – I wasn't sure how long I could stand up on my own.

"Sasuke, what happened? Naruto, I'm going to take off the bandages to have a look," Kakashi said calmly. His hands started to unwrap the gauze binding my eyes, keeping one hand on my shoulder.

"We were being followed when we first entered the forest, and after we threw them off Naruto got separated from us when a giant snake came after us," my best friend explained. "A couple of genin tried to infiltrate, but we had a password, and it didn't work. Then this snaky guy calling himself Orochimaru–" I thought I heard Kakashi-sensei inhale sharply at the name, but I might have been imagining it "– comes out of nowhere and starts babbling about power and skill, and goes to _eat _his scroll. Naruto jumped out of the trees and grabbed the scroll, and then we started to fight him. I don't really remember much of the fight…"

"Naruto, I'm going to clean some of the blood away to get a better look at this, okay?" our sensei told me calmly, and I just nodded blearily as Sasuke continued.

"But Orochi-freak went to cut Naruto in half, and he dodged it, but wasn't quite fast enough, and the sword slashed his eyes instead. I got knocked out soon after that, so I don't know how you guys drove him off."

"He left," I said flatly, wincing slightly as Kakashi-sensei wiped semi-congealed blood away from the gash over my eyes that had finally stopped actively bleeding, now just oozing sulkily. "I guess he got what he came for, or maybe he just got bored. Ow!" Kakashi was now dabbing at my eyes with a cold cloth, and I whimpered as the disinfectant began to sting, shuddering and going stiff as my head began to hurt again, gritting my teeth weakly.

"Sakura, could you go down the hall and take the first door on the left, and ask for a medic, please?" Kakashi asked, then shook my shoulder gently, saying, "Come on, Naruto, stay with me."

"But Sensei, I'm _tired,_"I mumbled. "I didn't sleep last night, _or _the night before, and that's totally unfair, and I'm _sleepy…_ and cold. It's… cold…"

I heard shouting and made a face internally – I was too tired to deal with the others being irrationally loud. Was I being shaken? I couldn't really feel it – I couldn't feel my hands or feet – couldn't feel where I was touching the floor – sensing things as if I was a hundred miles away. Sasuke was shouting "Wake up!" – _go away, teme, I want to sleep – _and Kakashi saying loudly, "Naruto, stay with me now, squeeze my hand if you can hear me."

Why would I need to squeeze his hand? I didn't even know I was holding it, but I tightened the muscles in my hand anyway, my fingers stiff and unresponsive, numb, heavy, unfeeling.

I heard an unfamiliar voice say something faintly about adrenaline and painkillers before all the sounds faded away, leaving me in a blissful, painless void.

Then I gasped and jerked, a stinging pain in my neck as feeling rushed through my body, shuddering with the shock of it. I shoved myself into a sitting position off the floor, shaking my head dizzily, not even aware I had collapsed. "Ow, what the hell?" I complained, putting one hand to my neck.

"Shock," said a voice I didn't know – the medic, I assumed. "I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did – you said this happened twenty seven hours ago?"

"Yes," said Sasuke from my left; I could feel his hand on my forearm through my longsleeved shirt. "First day of the exam, late afternoon. He bashed his head a little while ago, though, and the bleeding started again…" He trailed off helplessly.

"Hm. Tough little thing, you are. Now I'm gonna give you a painkiller, kid, so don't fight me, alright? What's his bloodtype – I'm going to need to give him a transfusion as soon as possible." Unfamiliar hands grasped my arm and turned it over, and I flinched as the needle slid under my skin, depositing the drug into my system. A moment later, those same hands slid up to my collar and dug for my dogtags.

"Naruto, I'm going to stand up. Just stay where you are," Kakashi instructed me, before standing up like he'd said he would, but he didn't move away.

"We made it to the tower okay, then," I decided, tilting my head slightly. "So you managed not to lose the scrolls, teme?"

Sasuke sighed and patted my arm. "No, dobe, we didn't lose them. You, however, lost a lot of blood."

"Eh heh, sorry about that." I grinned sheepishly, then looked up at our sensei and said, "So, Kakashi-sensei, what do we do now?"

"All three of you are going to go to the hospital to get checked and fixed up," Kakashi replied calmly, and I frowned slightly in confusion.

"Not that, sensei, I meant for the chuunin exams. What comes next?"

Kakashi sighed sadly. "Naruto, Team Seven won't be continuing. You'll have to be disqualified."

"WHAAAT?" I howled, thrashing on the floor as the medic yelped. "WHY? We're allowed to get medical help once we get here! We brought both the scrolls, none of us died! Why would we be disqualified?"

"Because, Naruto, one of the requirements is that none of you are incapacitated, unconscious or otherwise unable to fight when you reach the tower," Kakashi explained patiently. "You can't fight, so your team cannot continue."

"What? I can still fight!" I shouted indignantly, struggling to sit up and ignoring the medic's protests. "So I had a little fainting thing a moment ago – I'm okay! Honest!"

"Naruto…" I smacked Sasuke on the back of the head, and he yelped. "Ow!" Then (purely reflexively) he punched me in the shoulder in retaliation.

"Ow!" I whined.

Kakashi sighed heavily in exasperation, and I grinned. "I'm fine, Kaka-sensei! I can still fight! We can keep going easy!"

"Naruto, you can't," our sensei said firmly, and I bared my teeth, chakra starting to flare up angrily.

"I _can, _Kakashi-sensei!" I snapped, and Sasuke sighed faintly from beside me, but didn't try to interrupt. "I'm not helpless! I might not be at my best right now but I can still put up a damn good fight! We can pass the second exam!"

The medic cleared his throat and made us all turn our heads towards him, me cocking my head slightly. "Excuse me, Hatake-san, but your genin is correct. He may not be able to fight particularly _well_, but he can… well, he can hold a kunai and stand up, so technically he's not disabled or incapable of fighting. They are allowed to continue. Technically."

There was a long pause, with a steady rise in killer intent that was aimed at the medic. I couldn't help grinning; Kakashi-sensei glaring was always interesting, provided it wasn't me he was glaring at. "Oh yeah! I love technicalities!" I cheered, albeit in a much more subdued manner than my norm.

"Naruto, maybe this isn't a good idea," Sakura tried.

Sasuke snorted. "Don't bother. His mind's made up. No point in arguing with him now; he's too stubborn." I stuck my tongue out at him, and the medic seemed to reach the end of his (justifiably limited) patience.

"You may discuss this later," he said urgently. "Nothing will happen until the exam finishes in a few days, and right now I need this genin in the hospital wing. Girl, you run ahead and tell them to have two litres of B positive blood ready and waiting. Hatake, Uchiha, help me get him up – Naruto, you need to stay still now, okay? You've lost a lot of blood, so we have to stop the bleeding and give you some more. It's going to be okay, but you need to stay awake. Talk to me…"

I felt hands lifting me, but didn't even compute the indignity of it, falling away from the conscious world.

* * *

"…and so, with the excessive damage to the cornea and aqueous humour, not to mention the wounds to the irises, it is unlikely that–"

"Look, could you just cut the doctor jargon and speak to me in Japanese like a normal person?" I asked impatiently. It was roughly a day later, and I was being discharged from intensive care. Yay. Now, if I could just understand what the good doctor was _telling me_… "I don't speak medical lingo."

The doctor sighed, sounding annoyed, and Sasuke stifled a snort from beside me, making me grin. "I meant, Uzumaki-san, that your eyes are so damaged it's not medically possible that you'll ever be able to see again. You were permanently blinded."

There was a long pause as I waited for the doctor to continue, but that seemed to have been the ultimatum. "Sooo…" I said slowly, "what about the other injuries? Any broken bones I should know about and can't remember? Hit my head one too many times? Burns, sprains, all that crap."

The doctor sighed again, more irritably this time, and papers flipped. "Minor concussion. Minor to moderate blunt force trauma. Various contusions and deep tissue trauma. Various small to medium cuts. Slight strain in left wrist, presumably from falling on it. Severe gash to the head, causing extreme damage to the eyes. Moderate to major blood loss. Shock. That about covers it."

"Really? That's it?" I was mildly surprised. "Nothing broken? That's new."

"Well, there's a stress fracture or two in your skull, but nothing worth mentioning."

"Great!" I said cheerfully, pushing myself off the bed. "A couple of days rest and I'll be ready for whatever this exam has left to throw at us!"

The doctor patted my shoulder in a way I think he meant to be comforting. "Alright, you can go now. Uchiha-san, your room is on this floor, room one hundred and thirty-seven; take a left from here, a right down the corridor and it's halfway down the hallway. Take Uzumaki-san there and get some sleep, ok? I need to speak with your teacher."

Sasuke led me down the hallway silently, holding my wrist gently, and I couldn't help shifting my head so that I would appear to be looking at things as we went. It was habit, now, ingrained from years of practise. But even though I could vaguely sense out the area from our echoing footsteps, I asked, "What's this place look like, anyway?"

"Stone walls, metal doors," Sasuke replied. "Floor seems to be stone, but I could be wrong. Fairly well-lit, electric lights and so on. There are metal numbers nailed to the walls beside each door – I guess they're the room numbers. We just passed one hundred – must be nearly there."

I nodded my thanks, and paused a few minutes later as Sasuke pulled himself to a stop. There was the sound of a door opening, and then I heard Sakura yelp slightly – she hadn't taken long to be checked over, and so had apparently been sent ahead. "Oh! Sasuke-kun, Naruto! What did the doctor say?"

I scratched my head. "There was a whole lot of medical jargon, but I somehow avoided breaking any bones. Couple of stress fractures, blood loss, cuts, bruises and so on, but hey! No bones! That's good news!"

There was a pause, and Sasuke muttered, "I believe she meant what he said about your eyes, dobe."

"Oh yeah." Heat rushed to my cheeks and I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. _Well, what do you_ want_ me to tell her? I seriously didn't get all the medical crap!_

Sasuke sighed. "OK. Just sit on the bed; head left to the wall and follow it."_ I'll tell her; you're too dense to do it gently._

I ran my hand along the wall until I ran into the bed, sitting down on it with a sigh of relief as Sasuke said quietly, "The doctor told us the outlook was… very bad. There was a poison on the sword – it's a miracle it didn't kill him – and the damage done was… extensive. Sakura… Naruto was blinded. And it's permanent. There's nothing anyone can do."

The girl gasped slightly, but I was starting to feel really sleepy… must have been the painkillers…

I let my mind slip away.

_

* * *

_

Kakashi's Log

…_Sensei, I'm sorry._

_I'm a failure as a teacher._

_I know you'll never forgive me for everything I've done, but I'm sorry, and I always will be._

* * *

Further up, Naruto used 'Japanese' as his descriptive word for his language. This is because, while he is currently speaking English (for all technical purposes, anyway), the true language of the Naruto fandom is, in fact, Japanese. Writing him saying 'English' there was too painful to even contemplate. If I was fluent, I'd write this in Japanese, but I'm not, so I won't. If I ever get good enough I might try it just for the laughs.

* * *

New jutsu, since I forgot to put them in last time:

**Shikumi no Jutsu **(Death Foreseeing Technique, which is a bit of a mouthful)  
An interesting jutsu that uses a combination of genjutsu and pure killer intent to show the opponent their own (usually quite violent) death, causing paralysis. Understandably most people, even ninja, are a bit unnerved by this, and put off their game by the technique.  
Why didn't it affect Naruto, to stave off most of the questions? Most genjutsu require eye contact, and killer intent doesn't bother him as much as it does most people. The whole jutsu probably just went clean over his head.

**Zankuuha** (Decapitating Air Wave)  
This one's not named in the chapter, but one of the Sound genin used it. Naruto described it as a 'blast of ringing sound', which is actually fairly accurate. The user (Zaku, if anyone cares) here has mechanical implants in his arms that can manipulate sound waves and air pressure to create supersonic blasts of air, which can and does mess with the vibrations of the inner ear and completely destroy your balance.

**Mud Clone** (I cannot find the Japanese for this, and don't trust my translator at the moment)  
Pretty much what it sounds like – a clone made of earth instead of water or shadows or illusion. Easier to make than mizu bunshin, since there's dirt everywhere, takes less chakra than a kage bunshin, and of about mid-strength. Can be difficult to dispel. Some fan fact says Orochimaru can make them reform when they're destroyed, but I'm still sceptical about that.

* * *

Oh, and a few people commented that Naruto was 'unaffected' by massive explosions going off practically underneath him. It's the difference between a scratch when wandering your garden, and a scratch while in the jungle running madly away from hungry tigers. At home you'd wail and complain and insist on a bandaid, but in the jungle, you've got bigger things to worry about. It's not that he wasn't affected – he was just preoccupied. I think this chapter described it better, but if not… there you go.

Why do I have to keep explaining stuff? Am I really that poor a writer that none of this is implied in-text?


	13. A Test of Nerve

(Twin1 scurries into view with a podium, plants it in centre stage, then scurries off again. She returns a couple of seconds later with a bunch of cords and begins to attach them to the mike set into the stand, seemingly at random. Someone hits her from under the stage, rearranges the cords, then drops back out of sight, dragging Twin1 with him.)

(Twin2 walks onto the stage, to surprised applause, and settles a handful of notes on the podium.)

Twin2: Well, people, I seem to have been getting a lot of questions – only it's mostly the same questions, over and over, and some of them have difficult answers – so I called up this meeting to explain them briefly. If you feel you have an acceptable knowledge of the situation, feel free to skip this and go straight to the story.

Now, _the _most common question: How was Naruto blinded?

This is important to the plot, and I've been feeding you hints already. Don't worry, it WILL be fully revealed later on, but it's going to be a bit of a wait. In the meantime, guys, have a little faith. You've stuck with me this far, haven't you?

Why has no one figured out Naruto is blind? Don't his eyes and mannerisms give him away?

Okay, that is a very legitimate question, one that took me ages to sort out, and it's not gonna be touched on for a while (or even very well) so I'll explain it straight.

He's been trained to mimic 'normal' gestures, which camouflages the less-than-normal ones, and though his eyes do look different, he knows and hides the lack of reaction. (Yay for Itachi.) In canon, Naruto usually smiles with his eyes closed. I was pulling from that - and yes, I know using canon as a basis for this seems like a bad idea - and also from the fact that people see what they expect to see. Plus, Naruto's not on his own - Sasuke helps, and Itachi made him practise, so he's got a little bit of an edge.

And for the record, Kakashi HAS noticed something's wrong, he's just drawing the wrong conclusions. Because of Naruto's obvious independence, he rules out the 'blind' theory straight away, and goes looking in the wrong places.

Will Naruto ever regain his sight? How?  
Look, can we just shove all plot-related questions off to moulder in a corner? I'm working on it, dammit.

Those who are worried about Super!Naruto, too competent, etc, please remember he's got Sasuke covering his tracks and a lucky streak the size of Tsunade's – just in the opposite direction. Those of you complaining about Naruto's _in_competence, he's _blind_.

Oh, and one last thing before I go – why did Naruto not tell, and continues to not tell, anyone about his blindness?

HE'S TWELVE.

Thankyou. Have a nice chapter.

(Twin2 bows and leaves the stage; Twin1 struggles with the guy under the stage for a moment. She wins, and escapes with the podium, dragging the cords behind it.)

**

* * *

**

Chapter Thirteen: A Test of Nerve

I woke up in a warm, soft bed that was definitely not the lump of stone in my apartment or the grass of the training fields I occasionally zonked out in. Had I stayed over at Sasuke's house or something…?

No, we were midway through the Chuunin Exams. We were in the tower in the centre, and would be staying here, recuperating, until the exam finished, in… three days' time, including today.

I smiled slightly, and sat up, wondering what time it was. Sakura was still asleep, in a bed across the room, and Sasuke's light breathing came from above me – _must be a bunk bed._

I yawned, and then swung myself off the bed and stood up. A mistake, I discovered, as strained, exhausted muscles took my weight for half a second and then collapsed. I winced as I crumpled to the floor heavily, narrowly missing a new head injury, my limbs stiff from the violent exertions of the last few days. Now, most people would _expect _to be rather stiff and sore, but not me. The Kyuubi generally doesn't tolerate any form of injury. Which meant whatever Orochi-freak had done to my system was serious.

"You okay?" Sasuke's voice made me twitch, and with a rustle of paper, I realised he'd been reading.

"Yeah…" I slowly stood up and backed onto the bed carefully, falling onto it with a soft thump. "Just stiff."

There was a frown projected through a slight elevation in his faintly quicker breathing. "What about…"

"Orochi-freak did something funny to me, and now the furball's gone quiet. I can't touch his chakra, he hasn't even growled in days, the killer intent has vanished, hell, even – y'know, I think snake-guy may have put another seal on. Sure _felt _like one; damn, those things hurt."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, before he asked, "So what are you going to do?"

I shrugged. "Rest for the day, get ready for part three, make some more poison tags, work on the freeze tags, track down that formula for the Leaf Explosion 'cos that was a cool bang when it went off… oh, and find a few scrolls on making smoke distractions – I've got a few ideas on making my own."

Sasuke gave a long-suffering sigh. "I meant the seal, you idiot."

I laughed a little at his exasperated elaboration, but quieted quickly. "I can't do anything about it on my own – this thing has messed up my system, made my chakra go weird. I could _probably _release it on my own – I know enough about sealing to maybe be able to, I could figure it out – but I can't risk messing with the fox's seal. One flare at the wrong time and I could rip myself apart."

The bed above me creaked as Sasuke shifted his weight uneasily. "If your chakra's not cooperating how will you fight?"

"I'll be fine as long as the jutsu doesn't need precision," I explained. "A flare in the middle of, say, Kage Bunshin would just create an extra dozen or so."

"Or they could come out as random mutant freaks like your normal bunshin, but that's beside the point."

I tilted my head upwards in a combination of horror and astonishment, surprised Sasuke would say that aloud with Sakura in the room – would _speak _with her in the room – but then again, she was currently asleep. "That doesn't happen, Sasuke."

"How'd'you know?" he argued.

"Sasuke, I've had random flares in the middle of that jutsu often enough to know: that won't happen. It's just the nature of Kage Bunshin."

"Che. If you say so. Watch your back while you're fighting, though – without controllable chakra you'd be at a major disadvantage." My friend sounded vaguely anxious, but he didn't try to talk me out of it. I smiled. Sasuke was the best friend you could ask for, once you chipped your way through the walls of ice that guarded his heart.

I'd gotten lucky. I was already through before he could pull those walls up.

"Don't worry. I'll be careful."

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better, or do you actually mean that you'll be careful?"

I sighed faintly, smiling just a little, and repeated, "Don't worry. I never go back on my word."

Sasuke breathed out in relief, and then pushed himself off the top bunk, landing lightly beside my bed and touching my arm. "Come on, then. I'll take you to the library to look for your scrolls."

"There's a library in here?" I raised an eyebrow at the thought.

"Yeah." Sasuke put my hand on his arm and started to move, the door sliding open and then closing again with a faint screech as we began to walk down the corridors. "Apparently some jounin like to train here, so there's a small library in the tower, although I was warned not to expect much – and to expect it to be a mess."

I shrugged, instead beginning to refocus my dulled, tired senses, letting the faint tickle of foreign chakras pinpoint a dozen or so other people, maybe half of them vaguely familiar.

Another door hissed open, the sound sharp to my concentrated mind, the metal slipping to the left, the lock not quite catching properly, and I then sneezed, hit with the heavy, thick scent of dust and something else I _so _did not want to identify. I coughed slightly, hearing Sasuke rasping beside me and covered my mouth with my arm. "Kami, when did they last _dust _in here?" I choked out.

Sasuke wheezed and spluttered, obviously not enjoying having his airways blocked with cloying particles of dust as he gasped out, "Wait here, I'll see if I can dig up some trap scrolls…"

"Teme!" I grumbled, but he was already gone, and I leaned against the wall for support while I listened to him shuffling through the dusty room, papers rustling sporadically as he went through whatever shelves there were. I sneezed twice more, and I could hear Sasuke muttering murder under his breath, in between hacking coughs.

About ten minutes later a pair of dirty-feeling scrolls was shoved into my hand, and my friend gasped, "Let's _go, _already."

Just a little while later, I sat on my bed, running my fingers over the first scroll, reading the inked text and scowling whenever the dust got too thick to sense the ink through it. I had a cloth beside me that was being used to wipe the paper clean whenever that happened, but it was still annoying. Sasuke had gone back to reading his book, still coughing under his breath every now and then.

"Hey, Naruto, when Sakura wakes up… you'll have to put the scrolls away." At my indignant noise of complaint Sasuke continued, "Dobe, blind people can't read. I personally have no idea how you managed to learn to do it."

"Ink sensing _is _kind of hard," I admitted, "but then I'll be bored!"

"Would you rather be bored or found out?"

That harsh comment made me shut up, and I went back to reading on the production of smoke bombs with a scowl. The trouble with those was that the smoke was usually traceable; you couldn't use them in assassinations or you could give away your supplier and then get it tracked back to you. Plus, you yourself could get directly tracked if you were sloppy – the smoke clung to hair and clothing, a dangerous scent trail for a decent tracker to follow. My frown melted away as I thought, reading the scroll slowly. I'd never had it happen to me, but I'd read of an ANBU team tracking down a missing-nin that way. If there were hunter teams good enough to do that, then smoke bombs were only good for low-level missions. What you really needed was untraceable smoke…

I frowned crossly. But that wasn't possible. Smoke bombs were obvious distractions. They were basically _made _to be traced.

Sakura stirred, and I shot a scowl at the bed above me before tucking the two scrolls we had borrowed into my bag and leaning against the wall, wishing I could at least look through my sealing notebook – I wanted to double check what had made that one freeze tag go blizzard-style. At the moment all I had was guesswork. I was going to be _so bored._

Bang! Smack! CRASH!

"Dogbreath's here," Sasuke announced as he turned a page, somewhat unnecessarily.

"I noticed," I grumbled, as I sat up from the floor, where I'd tumbled in fright at the minor catastrophe happening just outside the door. "Oi, dogbreath, go take a shower! You reek, more than usual, and that's really saying something!"

"Naruto! You made it after all!" Kiba shouted, ignoring the shower quip. "Ha, but we got here before you! Guess we're the better team this time around!"

"Yes, well, we ran into a spot of trouble," Sasuke said darkly, snapping his book shut. He knew he wouldn't be getting much reading in after this.

"HaHA! We – holy hell, Naruto, what happened to you?" Kiba sounded horrified.

I was thoroughly confused. "I fell off the bed when you ran into the door, moron."

"Not that! I meant – I meant, you know!" His clothes flapped – he was obviously making some violent gesture that I couldn't see. I glanced up at Sasuke for clarification, and he sighed.

"Your eyes, dobe."

"Oh, that." I grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, there was this nutjob called Orochimaru in the forest… he came after us and tried to cut me in half. I didn't dodge him quite fast enough, and he got my eyes instead of my heart or neck. Kind of a pain – he took me and teme out and we barely got away. Stupid bastard, it hurt, too!"

"Geez, that's… that's too bad," Kiba muttered. A heavy warmth clambered onto my lap, and as Akamaru sniffed my face I wrinkled my nose in protest.

"Eww, _serious _dogbreath! Worse than Kiba's!"

"Oi!"

I grinned, then yelped and shoved the puppy away. "Ew! Akamaru, you _can't _lick the blood off my face! That's just gross! Dog slobber! Ew!"

"Has it started bleeding again? I'll get the medic," Sasuke said instantly.

"God – Sasuke, don't!" I snapped. "I was joking, sheesh. Leave the medic in peace, he's seen me enough already."

"Which reminds me, I have to take you to get your bandages changed later."

"Hey, Shino and Hinata are coming," I said as I sensed out their chakra approaching.

"It's about time, _man, _they're so slow!"

"You better not be trying to get out of seeing the medic, dobe."

"Wha?"

"Um, excuse me?"

"Can't a girl get some sleep around here?"

"Hey guys, finally!"

"What are you doing in here, Kiba?"

"Good morning to you too, Saku–"

"Um –"

"Hey, are you lis–"

"SHUT UP!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs, and there was instant, blessed silence. I could track where people were, hear Hinata's rapid heartbeat, sense Sasuke moving over to me, a silent question in his footsteps. "Sorry, just – not so loud, ok? My head still hurts." I was surprised to find that it still did. I leaned backwards, wincing as my head made contact with the edge of the bed, suddenly feeling tired out all over again.

Sasuke's hand rested on my shoulder gently. "Hey, maybe you should lie down."

I scowled in his direction, lifting my head off the metal bedframe. "Aw, what? I only just got up!"

"Not to sleep, Naruto. Just lie down for a while on the bed; you can stay awake and talk or whatever, but I really think you should lie down."

Before I could put together a coherent argument – or even really care enough to think about doing so – Sasuke had gently lifted me, _far _more easily than he should have been able to, and as he set me down on the soft bed I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me, and groaned quietly as the dizziness spun my senses into a disconcerting mess. "Make it stop," I moaned, clinging weakly to his shirt and feeling sick as his hands lifted away, leaving me with no anchor points as my own hands let go, just a void that felt as if it was shifting and spinning around me.

"I'm not going anywhere, and the room's not spinning," Sasuke said calmly, gently pushing me back against the pillow and keeping one hand on my shoulder, knowing I wanted the reference point.

"It _feels _like it is," I grumbled, but the world was steadying; I didn't feel quite as dizzy.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Sakura asked, a little nervously, from her bed.

"Che," I grunted irritably, annoyed by my weakness. "Been better, that's for sure." A warm deadweight dropped onto my stomach and I winced, before patting the small dog absently. _That's right, Team Eight's here… _"How did you guys go in that exam, anyway?"

"Um… w-we got an easy t-time of it," Hinata stammered out, and I mentally locked her position next to the tickling, buzzing chakra source that was Shino. _Wow… I never noticed that about his chakra before…_

"Yeah? When did you guys get in?" Sakura asked.

"We were the second team in," Kiba explained. "Got off easy, a team of loser Rain-nin attacked us, but we overpowered 'em and nicked their scroll. After that it was child's play to make it to the tower. We didn't have to fight much at all."

"Lucky you," I mumbled, starting to feel sleepy, only to yelp and jerk away slightly as Sasuke yanked a blanket up to my chest. "What the hell, teme! I can still put myself to bed! Sheesh! What am I, completely retarded? Don't answer that, Sasuke." I lay back again, muttering curses under my breath and curling up under the nice warm blanket – although I wouldn't tell Sasuke that.

"W-what's wrong with him?" Hinata asked softly. "He looks so pale… and the dizzy spell…"

"Nothin's wrong," I grumbled. "Just tired. Really… tired…" I felt ready to drop off at any second, and my breathing was starting to slow, but I clung to consciousness, listening to the continued conversation.

"You guys may have gotten it easy, but we sure didn't," Sasuke said grimly, but quietly. "We got separated early on, and after getting banged up a bit we rejoined, only to get attacked by a ninja who was way out of our league – we guessed A-rank plus." Team Eight all inhaled sharply, quick startled hisses of air. We, being a team who'd encountered A-rank ninja before, would be more likely to be able to tell than some of the other teams. "We barely got away, and we were all badly hurt. I got knocked out, and Naruto…" He huffed wordlessly. "Well, you can see the bandage. On our way here we got ambushed again, and if Team Nine hadn't found us, we would probably have been killed."

Sasuke took a shuddering breath and continued, "By the time we made it here, Naruto was definitely in the worst condition. He'd lost a lot of blood, and was very low on energy, going into shock, other assorted injuries – not to mention the blade he was cut with was poisoned, which didn't help matters. The medics did what they could, but he's still very weak from blood loss, hence the paleness and dizziness."

There was a long pause, probably partially from shock – it was rare for Sasuke to speak for so long at one time. I half-smiled absently. "His eyes?" Shino asked, speaking for the first time since his team had arrived.

There was another pause, and I sighed faintly. Why was that such a hard question to answer, every time?

"He was blinded," Sasuke said quietly. "The sword – it was poisoned, there was too much damage. The medics can't do anything. He was permanently blinded. There's nothing anyone can do."

_Talk about… defeatist…_ I thought sleepily. _Even if he is right…_

Hinata squeaked, sounding horrified and appalled. "B-but – what about… he can't… doesn't… mean… can't… but…?"

The voices faded away and I sank into sleep.

* * *

I was dragged from my nice warm _quiet _sleep by a loud scream.

"God! Quit screaming, already!" I yelled, pulling the covers over my head and then burying my head under the pillow for good measure. I could still hear the scream, and it didn't stop. There was a thump as Sasuke hit the floor, having jumped off his bed, and then there was a yelp and the scream cut off as he smacked whoever it was over the head.

"Who is it this time?" I mumbled, letting my nose peek out from under the pillow.

"NARUTO! OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED?"

"WHAT THE HELL, INO-PIG! HE WAS ASLEEP!"

"Oh, it's just Ino." I curled up a little, hoping I could fall asleep again, but whimpered and covered my head as the pillow was abruptly yanked off.

"Ino, stop it," said Sasuke flatly.

"Sasuke-kun – what – he's hurt – what happened?"

"Troublesome…" _Oh, wonderful, the rest of Team Ten is here…_

Forgoing any attempt at sleep, I sat up and made to rub my eyes, only to stop as I touched the rough bandages. As far as I could tell, it wasn't bleeding again, but my eyes were throbbing, and I was still slightly disoriented.

"Hey," Sasuke asked, touching my arm. "You feeling any better?"

"My head still hurts," I reported, "but I don't feel like the floor's warped into another dimension under my feet without my knowledge, so that's an improvement."

"That's good, you're recovering. Do you want to lie down again?"

"Godammit, I have been lying here since – since – what time is it?"

Silence, punctuated only by the harsh breathing of Team Ten and Sasuke's quieter, calmer life signs.

"What _day _is it?"

Silence.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, what _month _is it?"

"Naruto, calm down, it's still July," my friend said quickly. "It's the fourth day of the exam, late afternoon."

"Right. _Thank_you. Now what was my point… oh, yeah, I've been lying down for too long! I'm bored! Seriously, Shika, how do you do this all day?"

"Troublesome…"

I rolled my eyes, laughing, only to wince and put one hand to my forehead as the action made my eyeballs burn with pain. "Ow! Mental note, don't do that again."

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked instantly, and I scowled in annoyance, both at his hovering and my own stupidity in forgetting about my injury.

"I'm fine, I just tried to roll my eyes. Bad idea."

Ino sniffed. "So, Forehead Girl, when did your team come in? What _did _you do to your hair – that's an awful trim. And why is Naruto wearing a blindfold?"

I snorted and stood up. "I'm sick of listening to this explanation. I'm outta here."

I darted out the door before anyone could regain enough mental composure to stop me. "Naruto!" I heard Sasuke shout, and half-grinned as I touched the wall and turned to run down the hallway. I'd let Sasuke explain the situation, but in the meantime, I was hungry.

I sniffed at the air, managing to catch a whiff of sushi, and moved in that direction, belatedly remembering the medic telling Sasuke there was a mess hall downstairs as I stumbled down the first step. It only took me a second to figure out how deep the steps were, and then I was skipping down them happily towards the food-smell. I hit the bottom sooner than expected and the recoil pitched me forward onto my knees.

"Oops," I grinned, standing up and feeling for the wall, trotting down the corridor and keeping my hand against the metal, following the straight corridor.

Within a few minutes the wall fell away from my hand with the quick jar that usually indicated the edge of a doorway, and the food smell tripled in strength. _Aha._ _Hello, mess hall._

The moral: always follow your nose.

I was happily chewing through a handful of onigiri when a hand landed on my shoulder, and I stiffened briefly and glanced up with a smile, saying through a mouthful of rice, "Hi, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hi, Naruto," he said, sounding vaguely amused. "Where's Sasuke?"

"Oh, he's upstairs," I replied, losing interest as I figured he just needed to ask my friend something. "Team Ten came in to bother us, and I got bored and hungry so I came down here to get some food. They – _they _being Ino – were asking too many questions, so I left Sasuke to explain on his own. Haha, sucks to be him!"

"So you came down here on your own?" he asked calmly.

"Um, yeah," I said, vaguely confused. "Aaaand I was coordinated enough to only walk into two walls, one door and to fall down the stairs only once! And it was off the bottom step anyway."

He sighed in response, and I found myself being steered over to the side of the room. "There's a bench here; take a seat, Naruto."

I shrugged, tapped the bench with my shin to be sure of exactly how far away it was, and then sat down, taking another bite of rice. Kakashi-sensei sat down beside me quietly, and for several seconds there was silence between us, just the clatters from around the mess hall and me chewing contentedly.

I swallowed my last mouthful and listened impassively to the vague echoes of Ino screeching loudly from upstairs. "Ne, sensei?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Why…" I frowned slowly. "Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this? I mean, it's not like I'm dead… I don't mind half as much as everyone else. I mean, Ino screamed. _Sakura _screamed. You nearly swore. Kiba kind of flipped, but not really – out of everyone he probably had the best reaction, except Sasuke or Shino. But they're ice cubes, so they don't count. Hinata nearly _fainted… _I mean, what's all the fuss? It's just one more injury…"

There was a short silence before my sensei sighed a little. "Naruto, I understand what you're going through."

I tilted my head to look up at him silently, confused.

"When I was thirteen, I lost my left eye in a fight. Readjusting was difficult…" he let out a bark of dark laughter. "Obviously you got it worse than I did. But I didn't want to think about it. I avoided it for a long time, blocked it out, focused on other things. It was hard to think about, especially after…" he trailed off, and I noted the unfinished sentence with interest. Maybe it was time to finally get around to reading Sensei's file…

"But I got used to it, and I accepted it," Kakashi continued. "Your friends are just worried about you. Even if you're avoiding it, you were badly hurt. It was a bit of a shock realising that they and their friends could get hurt – possibly even killed."

I blew a lock of hair off my face. "I know. But they don't have to treat me like I'm totally helpless! I mean, it's like I can't do anything for myself anymore! It's annoying! It's like I'm – I'm – like I'm useless." My voice went quiet at the end and I slumped back onto the bench weakly.

"They're worried," Kakashi said quietly. "They don't want you to get hurt any worse, and they're scared you'll end up doing yourself even more damage. They just don't want you to get hurt."

I shrugged, not entirely appeased. "I'm still not helpless."

Kakashi chuckled sadly. "I understand, Naruto. Now what say we go back upstairs? Sasuke is probably wondering where you've gotten to."

"Che," I grumbled, but I stood up anyway, licking my fingers to make sure I hadn't missed any of the rice. Kakashi-sensei gave a longsuffering sigh.

"Come here."

"Wha?" I went still as Sensei began to brush gently at my face, getting rid of sticky rice grains I hadn't even known were there, dusting off the front of my shirt as well with obvious (if silent) amusement. I pouted at him. "So I'm a messy eater!"

Kakashi just sighed and took hold of my wrist. "Let's just head back upstairs, okay?"

I managed not to walk into the doorway, and Kakashi-sensei told me when we came up to the stairs, so I didn't end up tripping over those. At the top, I was expecting another step, and stumbled, but not too much – it looked like I'd just tripped slightly, tripping over air itself like I was infamous for.

"Sorry, Naruto, I should have warned you about that."

"Huh? Kaka-sensei, I trip over everything. Telling me it's there is probably not going to help."

Kakashi only sighed again and led me back to the room Team Seven was staying in.

"Hey, Sasuke!" I said cheerfully as I was steered inside. Ino was sitting on Sakura's bed, doing something with a kunai, and Shikamaru was leaning against a wall – I was surprised he wasn't sprawled on the floor, the lazy bum. "There's food downstairs, if anyone wants it – hey!"

Sasuke had grabbed me almost instantly and dragged me over to my bed. "You moron, are you _trying _to kill yourself?" he growled, shoving me down and only tightening his grip when I complained. "No, just lie down! You're _tired _and _hurt _and if you pass out from blood loss _again _I will be very upset!"

"Okay, okay, geez!" I yelped, lying back on the pillows again. "Calm down, Sasuke; OCD much?"

He just sighed and slumped down beside the bed. "Thanks for bringing him back, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said quietly.

"What am I, a lost puppy?" I snarled, sitting up only to jerk back down as Sasuke made to cuff my ear. "Okay, okay, I'll go to sleep!"

"Idiot," he grumbled, but I could tell he'd actually been worried as he pulled the blanket over me again.

_Why is everyone always so damn worried?_ I thought crossly, tugging the blanket hem up to my chin. I can take care of my damn self! I've been doing it since I was four years old! And now – it's like I'm back at that age where _everything _had to be done for me because I was too young and stupid to do anything! Like I'm too useless to do anything on my own!

My silent fuming was interrupted by Kakashi saying quietly, "How are you guys all holding up?"

Sakura answered first. "I… I'm fine."

Ino followed straight after. "No worries at all."

"Troublesome…" Which translated to a 'situation normal' from Shika.

Munch, munch, munch… said everything you needed to know about Chouji. I grinned slightly, sleepily.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi-sensei prompted gently.

For several seconds my friend didn't answer, before he said quietly, "I'm okay as long as Naruto is okay."

* * *

I flinched awake at a vague flicker of chakra, reaching for a weapon instinctively and tracking my teammates – they were both in the room, Sasuke near my bed, Sakura on her own. As I recognised our sensei's chakra I relaxed, tracking my memories back and trying to work out when I had fallen asleep. I wasn't even sure what day it was now, let alone what time…

I was starting to pull myself up when my breath caught in my throat and I coughed, almost falling flat back on the bed and catching myself on my elbow instead. Sasuke's voice caught my attention almost instantly: "You're awake!"

"Nothing escapes this boy," I grumbled in between coughs, gasping for breath as I forced the choking feeling in my chest away and inhaled deeply. "Hey, Sensei!" I managed to call with some volume as Kakashi opened the door, grinning at him energetically.

"Good morning, Naruto," he returned politely. "Did you sleep well?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. I was unconscious. What day is it?"

"Last day of the exams," Sasuke told me. "Neji's team – the Hyuuga, remember him? – came in about ten o'clock last night after you fell asleep. The rest of the teams have until midday to make it here before they're disqualified."

"Really? Who's in?" I asked, finding myself interested. I was starting to recover from the blood loss problem, I decided.

"Well, there's our team, Teams Eight and Ten – all the rookies made it, huh. Didn't notice that before," Sasuke mused, before shaking himself quickly. "Neji, Tenten and Lee. That Sand team was the first one in. Another Leaf team showed up about three a.m. – that Kabuto guy you didn't like, his team. The three Oto ninja who ambushed us turned up about twenty minutes ago, and none of the others have been sighted yet."

"Seven teams," I mused. "That's still a fairly big pool."

"What if the other teams show up?" Sakura ventured, and I immediately shook my head.

"No way. I can account for the death or incapacitation of at least nine other teams, and I know of three scrolls that were destroyed. Did you know they give off flares of energy when you set them on fire?" I added, frowning a little. "Anyway, that means there's a top of twelve teams that can make it. …No… wait… eleven. Maybe ten. I doubt four teams are even left alive in the forest right now, or at least _whole _teams, and it's even less likely they'll make it before time up."

"Naruto, what do you mean by 'account for'?" Kakashi asked, sounding curious. I shrugged in response, slightly confused.

"Heard them dying at various intervals in the forest. Most of them forgot about the man-eating plants Anko-san warned us about, and there were a couple of incidents involving tigers… there was definitely one with the wolves…"

"I heard someone falling in the river," Sasuke offered.

"I'm pretty sure no one but us was chased by the giant snakes, though," I nodded, agreeing with Sasuke's river thought. "Hey, about what time is it?"

"Um, seven thirty," Sakura replied, piping up nervously from her bed.

"Hmm," I mused quietly to myself. "I wonder what else these guys have in store for us?"

I tried to listen to the explanation – I really did – but I kept getting distracted. The rising bloodlust from that Gaara guy caught my attention every time it shifted, and nervous movement scattered around the open room made my mind try to log everyone's positions on a mental map – and their chakras had started to feel familiar, scarily fast, so that it was actual chakra recognition that let me pinpoint Hinata and Shino and Kiba instead of their voices. And the random interspersions of coughing fits meant that my attention had plenty of chances to wander.

It was actually kind of odd, how hard it was to concentrate, although Sasuke was unconcerned.

"This kind of blood loss will affect you for a while," he said quietly as we stood in our positions. "Just do your best to focus, and trust your instincts while you recover." The way he said it made me smirk a little: like there was no question I'd be fine. He was right, of course, but after listening to all of the rest of the doom-and-gloom rookies, a bit of sunshine was good.

Even if it came from the Ice Prince himself.

I nodded, then shook my head as the proctor – I think someone introduced him as Hayate? – coughed again and asked if anyone wanted to forfeit. Only the snake Yakushi Kabuto did, and I muttered to Sasuke in a low voice, "Well, that makes eight times failed, huh?"

My friend chuckled faintly.

"No one else wants to forfeit?" the proctor coughed out, amid deafening silence, and there was a long, expectant pause. "No one else at all?"

"I think they're waiting for you to forfeit, dobe," Sasuke said quietly.

I scowled with a sharp, angry twist of the mouth, and grumbled back, "They're just gonna have to be disappointed, teme."

"No one else going to forfeit?" Hayate pressed.

Long silence.

"Anybody at all?"

Silence.

"Last chance, guys."

Silence.

"Are you all totally sure?"

Silence.

"Nobody else wants to forfeit?"

Silence.

"There's no shame in conceding defeat. This has been a very trying exam."

Silence.

"This is your final decision?"

Silence.

"Anybody who's not quite sure? If you don't feel quite up to it –"

"OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! I AM NOT GOING TO FORFEIT! CAN WE MOVE ON ALREADY?" I bellowed in frustration.

Hayate dropped all pretences at speaking to all of the genin at this stage and spoke directly to me. "Are you sure? If you don't think you're up to it, it's okay to give up."

"Kakashi-senseeeeeeii…" I whined, before abruptly changing my tone as a suspicion hit me, "wait, did you put him up to this?"

"Would I do that?" Sensei asked innocently from – a balcony thing that was supposed to act like a grandstand, I think.

I scowled, wanting to roll my eyes, but not daring. Once had been enough of a warning. "Look, I'm not giving up, so can we just move on? Please?"

Hayate coughed once more, and there was the faint buzz of electricity in the air, before someone said, loudly, "First match is Uchiha Sasuke versus Akado Yoroi! Clear the arena, except for the two fighters."

I nodded, frowning as I tried to remember everything I had on this 'Yoroi'. I couldn't recall anything straight away – but I did have his chakra essence, right now, and a skill that seemed to be developing as fast as it fucking could to try and keep me alive.

"Sasuke?" I said quietly, before the proctors could try to make me leave. "I don't know much about this guy, but… his chakra's a little funny. I don't think you should let him get too close, or hit you with chakra-based attacks, at least until you work out what he can do. His chakra… it's Konohan, yes, but only just. There's just something not normal there. Watch your back."

He nodded slightly, and I patted him lightly on the shoulder, and skipped out of range of a chuunin trying to grab me, darting away and up the stairs. Honestly, it's not like I'm a total idiot, I _remember _where the stairs are that we climbed down… okay, half an hour of speech-crap earlier. Maybe some people would have to look around, but not me.

I settled onto the railing near the stairs, focusing intently on the two remaining chakras still in the arena. Sakura and the rest of the Rookie Nine were all standing fairly close to me as Hayate called, "The fight will continue until one of the fighters is unable to continue for any reason, or forfeits the match. A participant can forfeit at any time. Killing is allowed, although I reserve the right to intervene at any time to prevent death if the opponent is already incapacitated. Now BEGIN!"

Yoroi started with a straight leap at Sasuke – stupid in any other situation, but with them so close together, it would have been difficult to dodge. Fortunately, Sasuke darted away, fast on his feet as ever, and I strained my focus to zero in on Yoroi's chakra. It was shifting slightly, pulsing in time with his overexcited heartbeat, but whatever jutsu he was using – if it was even a jutsu – wasn't a familiar one. I couldn't even guess at what it might do – it was totally beyond anything I'd sensed before.

I couldn't help the triumphant grin as Sasuke sprang all over the arena as he dodged Yoroi's every attack – he was a quick little bastard, sometimes. His opponent was getting more and more frustrated as he chased my friend around, and it was obvious that whatever tactic he was going for wasn't working.

I wasn't sure if anyone else had noticed the faint, chittering whirr of Sasuke fiddling with his ninja wire whenever he hit a wall, but I was getting curious as to what my friend was up to.

Chit-chit-whiiiir.

Whiiir-chank-chink-whiiiiir-whiiiiiiiiiir–

Chink-chink-whiir-chit-whiiir-whiiir-chank-chank-chink-whiiir-chit-chit-whiiir-chank-whiiir-chink-click-shreeeeeee-

A sharp yelp, and a soft huff of – was that laughter from my buddy down there? – and then Sasuke called with a casual air, "You might want to stop moving. Spider's Web is pretty tricky to work out of when it's inactive, and you've already tripped it twice. And if you ask me really nicely, I might be able to get you loose and let you keep the leg you've gotten wrapped in the wire."

His opponent spat a fairly nasty curse, punctuated with a rising yelp of pain that finally reminded me of where I'd heard all this before.

"Naruto - Naruto, are you okay?" Sakura was asking in that still-too-anxious voice, but I just laughed harder and waved her off. Over my own hilarity I could year Yoroi struggling, or rather the results of attempts to as Sasuke tugged on his strands of razor wire to adjust them and their grip. He was still good at this – always had been, perfect Uchiha brat – even though it'd been a long time since we'd played the trap game Spider's Web. It'd been a favourite of Itachi's.

In fact it had usually been him doing this to Sasuke.

Hanging over the railing, I bellowed, "Copycat!"

"And proud of it, too," he quipped, as the proctor pronounced his opponent thoroughly incapacitated.

While two jounin and a couple of chuunin struggled to get the guy loose without tearing him apart, I trotted unerringly down the stairs, Sensei catching my shoulder halfway down and making me yelp as he all but jerked me off my feet by the collar. He set me down again on the step carefully, and said in a sing-song voice that _nearly_ hid the strain therein, "Be careful, Naruto – you don't want to trip with everyone watching!"

I tilted my head up in a mockery of looking at him, nonplussed. "Yeah, like that'd be anything new," I said, but humoured Sensei by moving down the last four stairs at a slower pace.

Then I paused to compose myself, straightening my jacket and even running tidying fingers through my hair, before I cleared my throat, pinpointed Sasuke's position relative to me in my mind, and launched myself at him.

I got him, too, right around the middle, sending us both tumbling to the ground with a yelp.

"Naruto, you retard!" he snarled without venom, shoving at me.

"Copycat, copycat!" I taunted back, and together we rolled over and over in a mock-brawl that served no purpose except to amuse us both.

One half-roll later and our odd pilgrimage of the broken floor was stopped as my back hit a pair of shins. Curious as to who wouldn't step out of the way of two brawling genin, I pushed out my chakra to try and guess who it was. The comforting feel of Sensei's startlingly dense chakra greeted me, muted as he shielded the most of it out of what I guessed was habit (that or Sensei was more paranoid than _me_, and that was saying something) and made a token protest as the man wrenched Sasuke and me apart.

"Okay, that's enough. Naruto, you shouldn't push yourself too hard, especially with your own fight coming up. Sasuke, we've wasted enough time. I need to take you now, before that curse contaminates you even more."

I stiffened in surprise and twisted in Kakashi-sensei's grip – when had he found out about what Orochi-freak did to Sasuke? It was news to me that he knew, but Sasuke drew in a soft breath with a stubbornness that told me this was an argument that had been started at an earlier date – maybe this morning, when Sensei had come to our room to herd us back here, wherever we were now. Sasuke had been half-dressed, and I had been shooed into the bathroom quickly enough, so I suppose I could have lost the clash in the shower water.

I knew that if I put up my hand and traced Sasuke's chin, I would find it raised at a stubborn, defiant angle.

"I won't go," he said clearly.

"What did you say?" Sensei asked dangerously, sounding beyond annoyed now. I was given a little (unconscious) shake and set aside. "Sasuke, do you _realise _what –"

"I know it perfectly well, Kakashi-sensei," he growled back, "but I'm not going until Naruto's fought. I'm _not leaving_ until then. Don't even try to force me otherwise."

Kakashi-sensei gave a _very _long-suffering sigh, growled out a 'fine', and then shunshin-ed up to the balcony where the Third Hokage was sitting – holy shit, when did he get here? I had no idea the Sandaime was here! Wait… he was talking earlier, wasn't he? Ummm...

Sasuke and I made it to the stairs before the electric buzz ran through me again and I tipped my head up and around, searching blindly for the source. A faint, computerised 'ping' sounded, and then the proctor called, "Next match is between Inuzuka Kiba and Uzumaki Naruto!"

I grinned, delighted, and clapped Sasuke on his back just below his armpit – I missed the shoulder. "Sounds like I'm up, teme," I said cheerfully.

"Yeah. Good luck, dobe," he said gruffly, patting my shoulder in return. "Be careful."

I waved him off, unconcerned as I jogged back to the middle of the arena. "Scram, you! I got a match to win!"

Kiba had vaulted over the railing and now stood, shifting nervously from foot to foot, as Hayate reiterated the same rules as before (was it my imagination or did he put more emphasis on the 'you can forfeit at any time' rule?), and said in a low voice, "Listen, Naruto, no hard feelings? I don't wanna hurt you."

I regarded him coolly, ignoring the faint throb still tugging at my head. "Don't you dare go easy on me, Kiba."

"BEGIN!"

My opponent was still hesitating slightly and I took advantage of that split-second, darting forwards in a zigzag and dodging Kiba's surprised counter. He got me hard in the stomach with his next shot, though, and I dropped to the floor, making him freeze for the moment I needed to knock his feet out from under him. I followed the force of my spin to throw him away from me with a second striking kick, and on the third spin I hurled two shuriken after the still-flying dog user. I had little hope they'd hit him, but the quick succession of attacks would keep him off balance, hopefully long enough for me to get at my tag pocket.

I had worked out what went wrong with the freeze tag in the Forest of Death: I'd gotten the glyph order wrong. The tag had exploded and _then _the elements combined, in the midst of the blast, causing the blizzard-style reaction instead of a solid block of ice. They were an option, but only just. I didn't want to really hurt Kiba, so the volatile shock, explosive and failed leaf tags were out. Ditto for the tranquilliser tags – I was really starting to suspect the drug they simulated was fatal – and the nerve tags… no. Let's not go there.

Kiba sprang at me and my planning time was over: I blocked three punches, let a fourth graze my shoulder and was totally unprepared for the foot that drove into the base of my chest, making me crumple backwards as I fought to breathe again. I rolled away from a fresh blow and scrambled to my knees, still gasping for air, and hit the deck again in time to avoid – _a weapon? – not sure – _only to spring up again in Kiba's face, and the dog-user narrowly missed a retaliatory elbow in the gut. We backed away from each other, both panting, and I forced in a deep breath, waiting for the Inuzuka to make the next move.

The biting whir of shuriken announced Kiba's unwillingness to get into close contact again, and I bared my teeth in a grin.

Time to get busy.

I dodged the metal weapons by just falling backwards, at the same time reaching into my pockets for the things I'd need to pull this off. I felt oddly calm, now that I had a plan. I was the only one in this arena aside from Kiba: no one else to worry about getting hit by one of my blows, or tripping over them when I was trying to dodge. I was calm and collected: I could do this.

Okay. First things first.

I let a careful burst of chakra stream from my fingers and as I leaped back to my feet I let fly, sending a handful of stones skimming towards Kiba, counting silently in my head. _Two… one…_

There was no explosion – one of several reasons I considered these seals fails – but there _was _a sound like a large amount of mud had just splattered the arena.

Funny. That's exactly what had happened.

I didn't waste time laughing at Kiba's outraged bellowing, the startled shouts of the spectators fading to the back of my awareness; I was halfway through Kage Bunshin when the tag went off. Now I was half-surrounded by a wavering sea of familiar chakra – _oops, chakra flare_ – and we spread out in the sea of mud, which would hopefully confuse Kiba's sense of smell. The thick swamp scent was certainly bothering _me, _and I don't have a specialised sense of smell like the Inuzukas.

The dog-user snarled and spun around, feet slipping and splattering in the heavy mud, no doubt trying to identify which of the clones was actually me. I mentally wished him luck: apparently even Sasuke, having known me for years and with his Sharingan, had trouble telling if it was a shadow clone or me he was fighting. Anyone else was pretty much stuffed except for the 'guess and check' method. Or 'guess and poke', that works, too.

"Alright then," Kiba snarled, shaking himself roughly. "First things first: get rid of the lightweights!"

I got ready to a) dodge and b) implement the next stage, but couldn't help wondering if Kiba was aware how easily I could make more clones.

Probably not.

"Gatsuuga!" Kiba roared, and I winced, then bounded quickly away from the harsh whoosh the spin of the technique created, not wanting to get caught in its impact. The clones did their best but were mostly dispelled, resulting in a large cloud of smoke, and I grinned to myself as I and a handful of remaining clones shot after him.

Little known fact: Kage Bunshin smoke can make people sneeze.

Another, slightly better known fact: It is really hard to concentrate on where your enemy is springing from when sneezing. Especially repeatedly.

Overall effect: Kiba, flat on his back in the mud, with half a dozen mes sitting on his chest.

I, the real me, put a kunai to the dog-user's throat and said calmly, "Surrender."

There was a stunned, shocked silence, and as my mind let itself relax and return to focusing generally on the outside world, instead of the close-knit concentration on a single opponent, I quickly found Sasuke and Sakura, both close to the top of where I remembered the stairs to be. Sensei was moving towards them rapidly, and now I could sense the proctor, Hayate, hovering at the edge of the arena. There was a long pause, and I was starting to worry that I might have to actually hurt Kiba, before Hayate called solemnly, "Winner of match two: Uzumaki Naruto!"

I breathed a sigh of relief and my clones all dispelled as I got off the Inuzuka's ribs. I held out a hand to the muddy dog-user, saying calmly, "Good fight, Kiba."

He could have taken the loss badly. He could have refused the hand and snarled at me. He instead just took the offered hand and stood up, shaking himself off a little, and I heard Akamaru yelp from inside his jacket, suddenly remembering the puppy had refused to come out since they got here – I didn't know why. "Is Akamaru okay?" I asked, suddenly a bit worried. "I didn't hurt him while I was sitting on you, did I?"

Kiba paused, sizing me up, before I sensed his mood lightening considerably. "He's okay; you were placed so you didn't have your weight on him," he explained. "Good… good fight, Naruto. …Hey, where the hell did you get that much mud from, anyway?" he demanded. "I'll be smelling this for weeks…"

I laughed. "Me too."

Our friendly chat was interrupted by my sensei suddenly appearing nearby and saying cheerfully, "Hey, Naruto, could you come with me for a minute?" He put his hand on my shoulder and forcibly steered me off the arena and towards the stairs.

I frowned, trying and failing to wriggle free. "You better not be taking me to the hospital, Kakashi-sensei," I warned him, and suddenly found myself held slightly off the ground by the back of my jacket as he went up the stairs. "Hey!"

"No, Naruto, I just need to do something with Sasuke, and he won't go anywhere without you," Sensei explained.

"Oh… You better not be taking _him _to the hospital either, sensei. I won't help you with that."

He chuckled, sounding slightly irritated, but it was a weird sort of tone – not quite annoyed, more… what was the word? Exasperated, that's it. "You don't really have a choice here, kid."

I was set gently back on my feet next to my Uchiha friend, and beamed at the rest of Team 7. "What was all the worrying for, huh?" I said cheerfully.

"What worrying? I knew you'd beat the crap out of dogbreath," Sasuke grumbled. "Quit doubting me, or I'll drop you."

"Promises, promises."

"Boys," Sensei intervened, his voice slightly strained, as if he was trying very hard to make sure his voice was as light and lackadaisically carefree as always. I cocked my head at him, wondering what his hangup was – he wasn't taking us to the hospital, so he couldn't be afraid of our impending deaths, so what was…

Our previous conversation came back to me in a flash, what Sensei had said about Orochi-freak's cutting out my eyes rattling my peers – perhaps it rattled him as well? I guessed if one of _my _students came back from an in-village test that _I _assigned them with a disfiguring injury, _I'd_ feel a little bad.

I smiled sympathetically and patted Sensei's arm. He hesitated a beat, and I got the feeling he was looking at me funnily.

"Let's go."

What followed was a very, very, _very_ boring evening. I was guided over-carefully (with a hand on my elbow directing me that irritated the crap out of me) into a large, drafty place with stone walls and pillars, and an echo following every breath. I shivered inside, even as Sensei explained that this dusty place was a temple, and that the holy setting would help the seal take. Somehow. Placebo effect, maybe?

I was settled out of the way in a dark corner (ha) on a coarse bit of material that took me a moment to recognise as Sensei's vest.

"Naruto, we're going to just be over there," Sensei said softly to me, his hand on my head as he stood in front of me. "Whatever you hear, I need you to stay on this spot, okay? This might hurt Sasuke just a little, but if you smudge the seal by accident it will all be for nothing."

I heard Sasuke swallow in a way I knew preceded his stoic 'determined' face. I sucked in air rapidly, the dank chill making me shiver again. "Hurt him?" I repeated anxiously. "Why are you going to hurt him? Some creep just bit him – give him a bit of antiseptic and a stitch or two."

"Orochimaru did something a little more than just bite him, Naruto," Sensei was saying patiently. "I need to seal away the damage, or it will spread through Sasuke's whole body. It's like if someone stabs you with a kunai, if you want to recover you must pull the blade out even if it hurts when you do. Okay?"

I hesitated, wishing for the _nth_ time I could see what was going on, could glean some clue from visual aids. Sasuke rustled as he shifted, his sandals sliding along stone. "It's okay, Naruto," he muttered. I chewed my lip doubtfully, but nodded.

"I'll stay here," I promised.

And there was another long, _long_ pause, in which I grew very bored once more. From the sound of it, Sensei had Sasuke strip down to his boxers and sit in the middle of a clearing. The sharp smell of blood reached me a moment later, and I realised Sensei was bleeding himself to ink the seal in his own powerful, chakra-infused sanguine fluid.

I itched to see the seal, and wondered if Sensei would consent to teaching me how to draw it later – it would be cool to have some real instruction in my seals, rather than the 'hit and miss' method, which often resulted in unplanned explosions.

Finally, all noise stilled, and I perked up, sensing that something was about to happen.

"That's it!" Sensei declared. He raised his voice a bit, presumably to call back to me: his clothes rustled like he was turning in my direction. "Naruto, I'm going to start now. You stay right there, whatever happens, alright?"

I nodded, resisting the urge to roll my eyes, knowing from the last time I tried that how much it would hurt.

"Just a few more moments and this will all be over, Sasuke," Kakashi said to my friend. "Grit your teeth."

Sasuke took a shaky breath – he sounded cold – and I heard his teeth knock together as he followed our teacher's command. The sound of flesh brushing flesh and soft claps told me Sensei was creating handseals at an incredibly rapid rate. I sat up straighter anxiously.

"Fujahoin! The sealing of the curse!" Kakashi-sensei said, accompanied by a sharp thump (planting his hand on Sasuke?) and a surge of chakra.

There was a 'mm' sound as Sasuke instinctively tried to scream but managed to cut it back just before it burst out of his lips. It seemed to catch in his mouth, bubbling just below the surface for slow seconds. It still wasn't over when his resolve cracked and he cried out, low and hoarse. Sensei was unrelenting, his chakra a steady stream as he forced his seal to brand to Sasuke's shoulder. I whimpered, but remembered my promise and stayed put. Still, I resolved to kick Kakashi-sensei's shins hard when this was over.

It seemed like forever, but it was probably only ten seconds later that the chakra stopped and Sasuke let out a low moan before collapsing forwards. I think he managed to catch himself on his hands, arms propping him up, and I listened to his laboured, irregular breathing with concern, chewing my lip.

"Hmm," said Kakashi, clothing rustling as he wiped off his hands. "Even if that curse reawakens, my seal should keep it contained. But you have to remember, Sasuke… the foundation of the spell's power is in the strength of your will. You have to want it to work, or it won't. If you doubt your own power to resist the curse, the seal will crumble. Understand?"

Sasuke made a noise that could have been a 'Yes, Sensei' or could have been a death rattle, and his arms gave out. I winced at the sound of his bare torso impacting the stone floor, and wondered if he was unconscious. He'd have to be.

"He's exhausted," Kakashi said before I could ask. "Nothing to worry about. He'll be fine."

I nearly collapsed myself from relief, and felt the tension melt out of me. I had no doubt that Sasuke would be able to keep the seal in place – he was going to be okay. We were going to be okay.

Then, a shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature passed over me and I felt a terribly familiar chakra. The moment I identified it, though, the owner was already speaking up.

"Well, well, well. So you've mastered sealing too, have you, Kakashi?" The sound of sliding footsteps informed me that the speaker was approaching Kakashi and Sasuke. "Looks like you're all grown up. Pardon my rudeness, Kakashi, but I have no use for you. I'm here for the Uchiha boy behind you."

Ice flooded me, and I moved before I realised it. In an instant, I was standing in front of Sensei, a kunai in each hand and a toothy snarl on my face. "Naruto!" Kakashi said in choked surprise. Orochimaru sniffed.

"Oh, it's you, is it?" he said distastefully. "You're quite resilient, aren't you? Turning up in the most irritating places. You've caused me quite a few annoyances, little one."

"Get used to it," I sneered. "I'm gonna stand between you and Sasuke as long as you want him, you pedo-bastard!"

There was a furious burst of noise that sounded kinda like a raspberry, and the snake spat disdainfully at me, "Guttersnipe of a child! I have no interest in your teammate's weak body! His kekkei genkai is far more valuable to my goals!"

Sensei sucked in air through his mask, the sound a dull whoosh. "The Sharingan!" he hissed. "You want to steal his eyes!" I twitched in horror at the thought of Sasuke, whose vision meant so much, being plunged into the darkness that was my universe. I tightened my grip on my kunai determinedly. Body or eyes, this freak wasn't _touching_ my friend. Then, a large, warm hand grabbed my shoulder and jerked me backwards in a circular movement, sending me crashing to the ground _behind_ Kakashi. His chakra surged, and an odd twittering filled the air.

"Don't you _dare_ come near my students!" Sensei hissed. "You will not damage them anymore, Orochimaru!"

The snake-smelling freak clucked his tongue. "Now, that's not very nice," he said in a baby voice. "You're not averse to sharing, are you? What if I just have _one_ eye – hypocritical of you to say 'no', isn't it?" Kakashi-sensei actually _flinched_ at that, the movement conveyed through sound and fluttering charka, and I wondered what on earth Orochi-freak was talking about. After a moment, Sensei drew himself up and spat two words that I'd never heard him say before.

"Fuck you."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Always so fractious, Kakashi," he crooned. "It's all moot, in any case. That pathetic little party trick you've put on Sasuke won't hold more than a day, and then he'll come to me all on his own. So long."

Footsteps echoed and grew quieter, and I realised that the bastard had just _walked away_. There was a pause, before Sensei's hand was on my back, guiding me to sit up. "Come on, Naruto," he said, a wobble in his voice that I don't think I was supposed to hear, "_Now_ it's time for the hospital."

I didn't argue, choosing to meekly follow as he scooped Sasuke into his arms and took my wrist to lead me.

_**Kakashi's Log**_

_How horrifying. Somehow, things have gotten worse._

_Sasuke and Naruto both won their preliminary matches. I left before Sakura's fight, but I would be surprised if she advanced to the next level. Still, there's always the chance…_

_Orochimaru interrupted the sealing of Sasuke's curse mark. He told me he wanted Sasuke's __eyes__. His EYES! What am I going to do? First Naruto, then Sasuke? Am I going to get to the hospital to be informed that Sakura got her eyes scratched out in a catfight over Sasuke now?_

_This is a nightmare._

_

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_

Twin2: And before I forget, this chapter is dedicated to Y.U.K.K. and Anonymous-is-a-pretty-bad-name. You guys prodded Twin1 into kicking (and blackmailing) me into finishing this chapter.


	14. Memorandum

Twin2: This is a little short, but…

Twin1: But I made her post this, like, now, because we're going overseas tomorrow and henceforth the next chapter may be… slightly delayed.

Twin2: And if you spot any errors in this chapter, _please _let me know; this was edited on about four hours' sleep over the space of three days. The sleep, not the editing.

Twin1: Seriously, calm down…

Twin2: I can sleep on the plane!

**

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Fourteen: Memorandum

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I shifted uncomfortably on the hospital bed. Was Sasuke alright? Kakashi-sensei had somehow gotten us both in the same room, so I could hear his heart monitor beeping steadily whenever my own wasn't going off. Stupid thing was driving me crazy – mine, that is. Sasuke's was a reassurance he was alive. But aside from that, I had no idea how he was doing.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

That beeping was really getting to me. So _annoying. _In flawless time with my heartbeat, which I could hear _perfectly _fine, thankyou.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I pricked my ears interestedly as someone started shouting from downstairs, trying to pick out a) who it was and b) what their problem was.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

But that stupid machine was driving me crazy!

I growled and shook my fist at it uselessly, temporarily ignoring the shouting as I glared at the continuous, obnoxious beeper. Then I sighed tiredly and leaned back against my pillows, shutting out my own heart monitor and listening to Sasuke's. Somehow, the beeps for that one were slightly different, a fraction of a higher pitch, and somehow, that made all the difference between 'annoying distraction' and 'reassurance'.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I heard the shouting start up again, right outside the door, but a little quieter. It must have been quieter, because I _still _couldn't pick what was being said, but when Kakashi-sensei's voice came into my comprehension, saying, "Iruka, before you go in there you need to know –"

I put my fingers in my ears and braced.

Surprisingly, there was no instant headache for me, and I dropped my hands cautiously, ready to clap them over my ears if the shouting started. But there was a telltale thud, and the door just opened quietly, and I grinned at the two chakras that had just come in. "Hi, Kakashi-sensei. Hi, Iruka-sens–"

I was cut off by a heavy weight suddenly attaching itself to my chest, hugging me tightly, and I flinched back for a second until I identified the mass, and then relaxed into his grip, bringing my arms up to hug him back. He ran his fingers through my hair and I shivered at the contact; he was rocking back and forth slightly, shaking with silent sobs that I could hear faintly catching in his chest.

"Naruto, oh no, Naruto," he whispered frantically, and several sobs escaped, making me go still as the tears that accompanied them landed on my shoulder. This was _by far _the worst reaction yet. "Oh Naruto…" Iruka-sensei's sobs had intensified, and I hugged him awkwardly, flinching at the tears soaking into my clean shirt.

"I-it's okay, Iruka-sensei, don't… don't cry," I stammered out, patting him on the back and looking over at Kakashi helplessly. "_Please _don't cry, it's okay, don't cry."

He let out a strangled sob and ruffled my hair again, biting back his tears. "I g-guess I shouldn't c-cry," he choked out, pulling me closer – I hadn't thought it would be possible – and sobbing aloud again.

I looked at Kakashi again, desperately hoping for help – I had trouble dealing with my own random emotions, let alone other people's! Sasuke's were easier to predict than my own, but he could read me pretty well, so that wasn't so bad… wait. Off on a tangent. _Kakashi, help meeeee…_

I remembered another reason I had wanted someone else to be in the damn room. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, is Sasuke okay?" I asked.

He seemed mildly surprised by the question. "Yes, Naruto, he's fine. You can hear the heart monitor."

I sighed, resisting the urge to roll my eyes, having learned it would hurt. "I _know _that, but is he _okay? _Is he sleeping peacefully or is he in pain? Does he look upset or like the curse mark is bothering him? Does he look like he's going into shock? Have any of his cuts reopened? _Is he okay?_"

I could feel Kakashi smiling slightly and shaking his head at me. "He's sleeping quietly. He's not in any pain. He's not upset. The curse mark isn't hurting him. He's not going into shock, and all of his cuts are fine. He is okay, Naruto; I promise."

I grinned weakly. "Thankyou. Oh! Hey, hey, Iruka-sensei!" I said, hoping to distract the man from his weeping. "My respect for you has gone up! You decked Kakashi-sensei! That was _so cool!_"

He sniffed and said, obviously confused, "What?"

"I heard you outside, _whack, _that was so awesome! You are so cool!"

"You do realise I _let _him hit me?" Kakashi said, sounding amused.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, sensei," I smirked, before twitching and focusing in on the chakra that was approaching. "Hey, the doc's coming back. I hate hospitals, that reminds me, when can I get out of here, sensei?"

Kakashi was saved from having to answer by the doctor arriving. "Hello, Hatake-san, Umino-san," he said politely. "Now, Uzumaki, how are you feeling?"

I shrugged uncomfortably, fidgeting. "Meh. Kinda bored. And I can't feel my feet, but I've been sitting on them for the last half hour so it's not unexpected… maybe I shouldn't sit on them…" I shifted, pulling my feet out, and winced as the pins-and-needles sensation started up, burning tingles running through my deadened muscles. Kami, I_ hated _that feeling. Wait, I'd been talking to the doctor. "Um, _really _bored. I hate sitting around for so long, it was bad enough for the written exam thing. Oh, that reminds me, Kakashi-sensei, when's the third exam? I _think _it's in a month, but… I was kinda distracted at the time, so I didn't hear everything that was said." I grinned sheepishly as my jounin sensei sighed.

"There's a month in which the finalists recover from the previous exams and train, yes."

The doctor interrupted, apparently not happy with some aspect of the conversation. "Now then, I'm going to take off your bandages so we can clean that cut, okay? Just hold still. I promise it won't hurt."

"Says you," I grumbled, but I didn't try to fight him when cool hands brushed against my head and the gauze started to come loose. Dry, cool air brushed at my face, and I flinched at the doctor touching the skin near the butterfly clips holding the edges of the gash together. Even though the clips didn't hurt anymore where they had bitten into the skin, they had hurt enough originally to make me touchy about them.

I couldn't help the instinctive wince as the cold cloth came into contact with my skin, and as the doctor very gently began to dab at the slash, I went very still and stiff, waiting for the pain to kick in as the disinfectant started working and the cloth aggravated the diced-up nerves.

But, nothing.

The doctor must have noticed my surprise, as he began to explain while cleaning the cut so gently I could barely feel it. "For such a delicate area we prefer to use painless disinfectants. There's enough sensitive damage here already without adding something like hydrogen peroxide to the mix."

"What the heck is hydrogen peroxide?" I frowned mentally. Wasn't that… hair dye? Or something like that?

Before I really noticed, the doctor was done with my eyes, having wiped away all of the bloody residue, and firmly bandaging them once more with clean gauze. "Now Uzumaki, we'll have to change your bandages twice a day to make sure your injury doesn't get infected, okay? Even when I'm not here, there will be a nurse in the room all the time, even if you can't hear her," he said. "If you need something or want to ask a question, just ask her."

"Before anyone goes anywhere, can I just ask when the heck I can get out of here?" I interrupted. "I'm _bored. _Seriously. This is not the most interesting of places, and the disinfectant is _killing _my nose."

The doctor hesitated. "We'll just have to wait and see," he said evasively, and I glared at him. _Not _the answer I wanted to hear. "Now say goodbye; visiting hours are over and I think Hatake-san has something important he needs to do. I'd like to have a word with him myself."

Kakashi put one hand on my shoulder, saying lightly, "I'll come by tomorrow, Naruto; just get some sleep. Yes, Sasuke will be okay when you wake up in the morning. Don't worry, hey?"

Iruka hugged me again and gently ruffled my hair. "I'll drop by tomorrow, too, before school starts, okay, Naruto? Just get some rest."

"Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" I grumbled.

_**

* * *

**_

Attention: _**Hatake Kakashi**_

_**Memo:**_

_Yo, Kakashi! That was wicked awesome, your genin totally kicked arse in the exam! And blind! What are you teaching those kids?_

_Signed,_

_Shiranui Genma_

* * *

I listened to the music someone had put on in the corner of the room. The loss of the annoying beeping of my heart monitor (they had decided I wasn't going to collapse into shock again) was calming, and I had always liked music, so I was actually fairly content, just sitting here listening intermittently to Sasuke's heart beeper and the CD player.

I was starting to feel slightly tired, but not in the way that meant I should go to sleep. Just… _tired._ It was weird, being so tired, but not sleepy.

_Maybe I should go check Kyuubi… see what the furball's up to down there, and figure out what the hell happened…_

I shifted slightly, pulling my legs under me so I was sitting cross-legged on the bed, resting my hands lightly on my knees. I let my breath out slowly, shutting myself down, reaching down deeper and deeper into my own mind, drawing away from the real world, the music that was fading fast, the beeps that died to my hearing, the soft sheets that fell away into nothingness.

I blinked painlessly; there was no pain in my mind, at least none that was affected by the outside world. If I tripped over I felt it, but… my eyes didn't hurt. I wasn't bruised and scratched and injured.

Water lapped around my ankles, but I wasn't concerned – that was normal. I started walking, not worried about walking into the wall – I put out my left hand, and the slimy stone materialised straightaway, exactly where I knew it would be. This was, after all, technically my world; as far as I could tell, it morphed and shifted around me as according to me. Or Kyuubi on occasion, when I pissed him off or…

I blinked as the pulsing heat of the fox's chakra flickered slightly from in front of me. Now _that _was odd. Normally it was like a river rushing past me, a rippling geyser that I couldn't see but could literally _feel _distorting the mind-space around me as it moved.

That tiny glimmer of power was _not _normal.

"Kyuubi?" I called. "You in there, you dumb fox?"

Nothing, not even a responding flare.

"Hey! Foxy! Anyone home?"

No response.

I scowled. "Yo! Fox! Rabbit-demon! Kyuu-chan! Small insignificant human wants to know what the fuck is going on!"

Still nothing, not even the growl of exasperation – and usually entertaining rage – a comment of that style would normally produce. I was starting to get nervous – this wasn't normal, and the seal not being normal was, simply put, a Very Bad Thing.

I moved forward, reaching out and touching one of the cold metal bars. This disconcerted me for two reasons: one, going too close to the cage occasionally means the fox takes a swipe at my head. Two, the bars were usually warm. He liked to stay close to the front of the cage, as far up in my awareness as he could go.

But the metal was stone cold, and the fox's hot breath was absent.

"Kyuubi?" I called again, more loudly this time.

The shard of the fox I could sense did flicker in response this time, but only faintly. I frowned. This was _so _not normal…

I walked beside the bars, letting my hands catch against them, and paused when I caught a warm chain in my hand instead of smooth metal. Chains… locks… that seal, had it been used to lock the Kyuubi out of my system?

Any normal person would have been skipping for joy, but unfortunately, the fox was kind of useful. The super-healing and limitless chakra being two things. I didn't miss the constant killer intent, though; that was kind of creepy.

Time passes differently when I'm in my own head, so I don't know how long I paced around the chamber that Kyuubi's cage was in, running my hands over the bars and trying – fruitlessly, I might add – to read whatever seal had been used. But seals, when active, are essentially solid chakra. Where was I? In a place basically composed of chakra. Yeah. Chakra on chakra equals no distinction equals can't read. What a pain.

Eventually, I gave up. The Kyuubi couldn't help, I couldn't see what was going on inside my own head, and there was really no point in hanging around any longer. I felt myself come awake in the real world, my senses fluttering back to life and Sasuke's heart monitor beeping steadily. The music was still playing, but it was a different song to before – something with violins, I thought sleepily.

So the Kyuubi was definitely trapped. I had no idea what was going on in there, but I think it's the first time I've been into my mindscape without being threatened with death since… since that day when I was seven and mildly drunk. Don't ask. The fox couldn't stop laughing.

I was really sleepy now… it would be so easy just to drop off, right here…

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I leaned back and shuffled blindly for the blanket for a few seconds, tugging it up to cover my shoulders and settling back. I let my mind drift, letting the world fall away like I did with meditation, but instead of pulling myself inwards, falling inside myself, I just slipped under the veil of sleep.

_**

* * *

**_

Attention: _**Hatake Kakashi**_

_**Memo:**_

_Thanks, Kakashi. Thanks a lot. Kiba's been sulking all week 'cause a _blind retard_ (his words, not mine) beat him, which of course means that I'm _clearly _not doing my job. I don't s'pose you could pop by during training and scare him up a tree for me, could you? Give him a taste of why he _really_ would prefer me as a teacher than you? Say, training ground 82, around ten-ish?_ If you don't, I swear I'll tell Anko who it was who leaked those pictures of her to the general public_._

_Signed,_

_Yuuhi Kurenai_

* * *

"Naruto, just walk towards me. You won't fall, I promise, just try to keep a straight line –"

I walked calmly, in a perfectly straight line, towards the voice, a perfectly calm smile glued to my face. "Um… yes, Naruto, that's good. Can you point to where the bed is?"

I pointed to where I had just come from, keeping the forced smile _exactly where it was._

"Can you point to where the bathroom is?"

I pointed to the left, where the bathroom was, where I could, _right now, _hear water running through the pipes.

"Very good, Naruto. Can you walk back to the bed for me, please, and sit down?"

I walked back, measuring my steps carefully, counting them out mentally in a furious (and feeble) attempt to distract my mind from how frickin' peeved I was. I sat on the bed, hearing the phone ring downstairs in reception, and unable to keep myself from turning my head to Sasuke's bed. The beeps had gone quiet; his breathing was gone. Kakashi had taken him off early, before I was awake, to train.

"Okay, Naruto, I think that's enough walking for now," the nurse told me, sitting down in the chair beside my bed. "Could you listen to these sounds and tell me what they are?"

I sighed. This was going to be a looooong month.

_**

* * *

**_

Attention: _**Hatake Kakashi**_

_**Memo:**_

_MY ETERNAL RIVAL! YOUR GENIN'S YOUTHFUL PERFORMANCE IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY WAS TRULY BREATHTAKING! THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH FLOURISHES WITHIN HIM! PLEASE KNOW THAT MY HEART GREIVES FOR YOU AND HIM IN THIS HOUR OF LOSS, BUT WE SHALL PERSEVERE! YOSH!_

_Signed,_

_Maito Gai_

* * *

"Can you listen to these sounds and tell me what they are?"

"Aaaargh!" I finally snapped, springing to my feet. "That is the _tenth time __**today **_you've asked me that! Am I not getting them right or something? Please tell me if I am! PLEASE! This is _insanely boring! _Worse than the Academy lectures! I mean, for crying out loud! Guh, I'm gonna go take a shower."

Before the startled nurse could grab me I had darted into the bathroom, slammed the door shut and locked it. As the woman started to rattle the doorknob, ordering me to open it, I groped blindly for the chair I knew was in here somewhere and jammed it under the knob. Ha. Like to see them open it _now._

I ignored the nurse entirely from there, yanking at my shirt and grimacing at the smell. I hadn't had a bath in, what, a week? Probably should have had one while we were in the tower, but hey, I wasn't conscious for most of that, so I have an excuse! Makes me wonder how I slept, mind you. Sheesh.

Twenty minutes later, I was poking at my clothes with my foot, determined not to put them back on, when Kakashi poofed in. "Hi, sensei," I said as his chakra materialised. "How's Sasuke doing? Why'd you take him so early, dammit? Hey, would you mind getting me a fresh set of clothes? These ones _stink. _How the heck did my team stand me for so long?"

I suspected Kakashi was rolling his eyes as he handed me a clean shirt and shorts, apparently having expected this. "Sasuke's fine – he's taking a break while I checked in. You realise half the hospital is in hysterics?"

"Huh?" My head popped through the hole in the shirt, messing up my still-filthy hair – I had wanted to wash it, but I was fairly sure I wasn't supposed to get the bandages wet. Which sucks, by the way. "Why's that? I just wanted to take a shower. And the nurse was driving me crazy! I mean seriously, playing the same stupid recordings over and over and asking me what they are – how many times does she want me to tell her 'crowd of forty people, twelve women, five children, birds in the background, slightly windy day, markets down the street, Inuzuka compound in the other direction, must be Lale Street about the 44th corner' or 'Academy staffroom, second floor with Iruka-sensei's room just above it and Saki-sensei shouting at her class next door, five teachers in staffroom, coffee pot is broken, geography test scheduled for two o'clock in 4-B, sounds like August two years ago'?"

I grumbled under my breath and pulled on the shorts, wiping at the water still running down my arms with the towel. Kakashi-sensei just coughed slightly, either with surprise or amusement; I wasn't quite sure. "What're you doing with Sasuke?" I asked, my curiosity – and anxiety for my friend – making me ignore the hospital's sudden lapse into insanity.

"I'm teaching him a new technique that he'll need if he's going to fight Gaara in the third exam," Kakashi explained, and I nodded my understanding, although I made a face.

"Lucky bastard – when can I get out of here? They've all gone nuts, I swear! And I'm bored out of my mind! And the doctor keeps taking away my scrolls! That is so unfair!"

Kakashi-sensei didn't say anything for a second; he was thinking over something, probably, I guessed as I rubbed at my hair with the towel, hoping to get it just a _little _cleaner than before. "Naruto, would you mind reading this out to me?"

I raised an eyebrow but took the book he handed me, skimming my fingers over the first few characters and saying aloud, "He took her lovingly by the hand – ew, Kakashi-sensei, is this your porn novel? Aaaahh!" I threw it at him, horrified, and shook my hand vigorously. "Ew! Gross! I have been _tainted! _Eeeewwww!" I broke into a fit of shudders.

Kakashi caught the book, completely unfazed by my explosion. "I just wanted you to read me something I knew you hadn't seen before."

"So you made me read your porn book? That is weird – and gross – and there is something _wrong _with you! They should keep you in here instead of me!" I shrieked, a little hysterically. Then I took a deep breath. "Okay. I am going to wash my hands."

"There was nothing, well, _graphic _on the page I wanted you to read," Kakashi informed me mildly, flipping the book open himself. "It was clean. There was nothing there to taint your fragile little genin mind."

"Yeah, but the fact is that it was _in _the book, and I was _touching _it!" I whined, as I scrubbed my hands vigorously in the sink. With hot water. And soap. Lots of soap. "Eeewww! I was _touching _a pornographic novel! You are so _weird, _sensei! How the hell did I end up with you as a sensei?"

"It could be worse," the pervert behind me said mildly. "You could have had Gai."

…

"…Point taken," I admitted. "Compared to Gai, you're _normal. _And that's so sad I think I might cry."

Kakashi chuckled lightly, but sobered rather quickly. "Naruto, I need you to be honest with me. You read from my book perfectly, despite your… recent injury. But you've never read the book before, never even seen the inside of it, let alone known which page I was holding out to you. How did you read it?"

I froze.

I'd forgotten about that. I hadn't even registered doing it. It was normal – natural – to be able to read – to brush my fingers over kanji and hiragana and register their shapes – to read things almost as fast as someone who could see. It hadn't been something I thought about since I first learned to read, how to overcome another one of my barriers.

I swallowed. Obviously I couldn't tell him _that; _it would only raise a lot more questions. Ones I didn't want to – ones I _couldn't_ – answer.

But the ink sensing just _happened. _The inked parchment just _had _a different feel to unblemished paper. Hell, if I was really focusing, I could even tell the difference between the colours of inks, but that was very, _very_ difficult, and, like, a complete waste of time to me – really, all I needed was the clear distinction of ink and paper. And I couldn't tell exactly what colour the ink was – just that it had changed. And dark colours were hard (read: impossible) to distinguish.

I bit my lip, knowing I couldn't stall for much longer, and said slowly, "I… don't really know. It just… sort of… happens. Like… I just… touch the paper… and I can read the characters… I don't get how it works…"

I shrugged helplessly, hoping that was enough.

"Naruto, is there anything you want to tell m-?"

His question never made it out, as a nurse, one I hadn't heard before, hammered on the door and bellowed, "HATAKE-SAN! You went in there to fetch him, not hide in there like a dog!"

My sensei sighed and stepped to the door, wrenching the chair free and unlocking it, dropping the topic much to my relief. I followed him without needing to be told, only to groan as I was grabbed from three sides and hauled back to my bed. "I can _walk, _you know," I grumbled, then laughed abruptly. Sensing Kakashi's eyes on me, his chakra shifting slightly with very strong confusion – it would have to be, to be transmitted like that – I explained, "Be very hard to pass the third exam if I can't even walk."

He sighed, and I was instantly on edge. "I didn't like the sound of that."

He snorted faintly. "Naruto, while we're talking about the third exam…"

Oooh, this wasn't going to be good. Suddenly I almost wanted for him to go back to talking about the fact that I was, in fact, literate.

"…I think it might be a good idea for you to forfeit," Kakashi said, and I instantly howled "WHAAAAAT?" at the top of my lungs.

"Just listen to me!" he snapped, raising his voice for one of the few times I could remember. "Naruto, you suffered a debilitating injury, and you did incredibly well to get this far. But you need to know when not to push the boundaries. There have been genin killed in the third exam, and they were in perfect condition, not already crippled by previous injuries!"

"So what?" I shouted back furiously, absently noting that the nurses had all left, backing out of the room as fast as possible. "_I can still fight! _So fucking _what _if I can't see! Who says I need my eyes to win a goddamn fight against that goddamn Neji? I won't give up! I _never _give up! As long as I can still stand up, sensei, _I will keep fighting! _I'm not gonna give up and you can't make me!"

"Naruto, you could easily be killed in the next rounds," Kakashi snapped dangerously. "You're up against some of the top genin from across all five Great Nations! You have to learn when to back down and take your losses, or you could die!"

My voice dropped to a low growl as I stopped shouting. "I know the risks, sensei. I always do and I always did. And I'm not willing to just throw everything away because of one cut, one failed dodge, _one _enemy ninja!"

"Naruto, this isn't a game anymore," Kakashi growled.

"Kakashi-sensei, it was _never _a game," I snarled back. "It never was and never will be. And I. Will. Not. Give. Up."

For several seconds we stood there glaring at each other, before Kakashi sighed heavily and almost seemed to back down; certainly the killer intent died down. I let my own die away, having been barely aware I'd been giving it off. "I'll see you later, Naruto; I need to get back to training Sasuke," he said levelly, and I knew this wasn't the last I had heard of this.

"Yeah. See you later, sensei," I said in a firmly controlled voice.

I scowled as my sensei left, leaving me in my room with the CD player that was still going.

"And so begins another episode of Boring! Stay tuned for more action-packed boredom!"

_**

* * *

**_

Attention: _**Hatake Kakashi**_

_**Memo:**_

_I have yet to receive notice that your student Uzumaki Naruto is withdrawing from the third trial in the Chuunin Selection exam. This concerns me. I let you _enrol_ your rookie team, yes, but there are limits, Kakashi!_

_Send me his withdrawal. I mean it._

_Signed, _

_Sandaime Hokage_

_**

* * *

**_

Attention: _**Sandaime Hokage**_

_**Memo:**_

_Maa, working on it._

_Signed,_

_Hatake Kakashi_

* * *

I lay flat on my back, listening sourly to the music playing again, unable to move for fear of disturbing the newly-installed drip in my left arm. I don't know _why _it was there – the Forest-of-Death infirmary only put me on it until they were sure I'd gotten some of my lost blood back. There was a rustle of paper as the nurse sitting in the corner of the room turned a page of her book, and I wished I could get out my sealing notes – but I didn't want to risk getting them confiscated. The boredom was suffocating, making me want to scream and run and _do _something, damn it!

"Hey," I said suddenly, before the boredom could drive me insane, "what's your name?"

The woman jumped, the book falling to the floor with a whap – _paperback two hundred pages or so _– as she stood up. "Uh – um, Natsu, Uzumaki-san."

I grinned and sat up a little, having something new to do. "None of that 'san' stuff, and don't call me Uzumaki – that's what Iruka-sensei calls me when I'm in reeeaally big trouble. Bigger than big trouble. Bigger than the usual big trouble. Just Naruto is fine. What were you reading?"

For a few seconds there was nothing, before her voice said, "It was a book on medicinal herbs – just something a friend gave me."

"Any good?" I asked curiously. I suspected Hinata dabbled in herbs – she often smelled of them back in our Academy days – but I had generally not had a lot of interest, except in some of the poisonous ones, and that was a recent thing.

"Well, it's interesting enough," Natsu told me as she sat back down on the chair. "Herbs are very useful but are often overlooked."

I raised an eyebrow at that description, my mind filing it away automatically. With nothing else to focus on, my mind was occupied with taking apart every sound I heard, translating it, deciding on every little factor, in a person's tone, in the heaviness of a thump or the thinness of scratches, deciphering what they meant. It was annoying. And distracting. And the person three doors down from me was dragging his cup over the surface of the table again… "Do you read a lot?"

Natsu laughed, a little self-consciously, I thought. "Yeah, as much as I can. Whenever I'm not on duty or doing something else I'm usually reading."

"Yeah, me too!" I cheered instantly. "Well, not really, not unless I'm researching for something, which does happen a lot of the time, like when I'm studying for my seals or looking for a new technique or whatsit, but I do read a lot 'cept when I'm drawing my seals and testing 'em 'cos that takes a while, but I spend most of my time training! Or bothering Sasuke-teme." I cackled maniacally, then added, "Hey, where are you going?" as the nurse stood up out of her chair and moved closer to the bed.

"I'm just going to turn down your dose of morphine," she said carefully.

"Oh no, it's fine, I'm not in any pain or anything," I said happily, waving my hand at her. "Wait, morphine is a painkiller right, 'cos if it's the stuff that's making me sleepy _it had better not be _'cos that stuff is hard to throw off."

"Well, morphine _is _a painkiller, but it does have the side-effect of making the patient sleepy," Natsu said.

My hand instantly went to the needle in my wrist. "This thing comes out, right now."

"Ah! No! Don't do that!" she yelped, grabbing both my hands. "You'll hurt yourself!"

"Why's everyone worried about me hurting myself?" I asked sleepily, suddenly tired again. Must be that morphine stuff. I certainly didn't have the energy to fight Natsu as she pulled a blanket over me and pushed me back against the pillows. "I'm not a _complete _moron… still a coupla pieces missing…" I giggled slightly at my own joke, my mind scattered and wandering, slipping fast out of my control.

I didn't even remember falling asleep.

_**

* * *

**_

Attention: _**Hatake Kakashi**_

_**Memo:**_

_And the prodigy does it again. Jeeze, Kakashi, is there anything you're not perfect at? I thought teaching would be it, but nooo, instead you spend freaking six months with a kid and then he can take on and win a fight to the death with a perfectly functioning genin directly after BEING BLINDED! _

_Gods, I hate you. Well, no I don't, but I'm reminded of why I _did_ hate when we were kids. Fuck, I'm having flashbacks. "Kakashi's a chuunin, now, you know. If you put in a little effort, you could be a chuunin too." That's unreasonable pressure to put on a six year old, Dad. _

_Um. Off topic. Where was I? Oh, yeah, jealousy. Die, Hatake, die._

_Signed, _

_Sarutobi Asuma_

* * *

I woke up with a twitch and jerked upright, my heart thundering in my ears, adrenaline raging through my blood – but I was in the hospital. My head ached, I was rather stiff, and my left arm felt slightly weird – the drip. Stupid thing.

"Ah, you're awake," said an unfamiliar voice from the chair where Natsu had been sitting last night before I zonked out.

"What the – who are you? You're a new one." I frowned contemplatively.

"My name's Yori; Dr Hiroshi will be in later to check up on you and get started for today's exercises," the new nurse explained. I processed what she'd said for a few seconds, then groaned.

"Aw, man, am I going to be listening to those dumb tapes again? If I am they better have some new ones or I'm going to go out of my mind! And seriously, 'can you walk in a straight line'? 'Tell me what this is'? Honestly!"

And yet, half an hour later, I found myself saying in a dull, bored monotone, "Kunai. Shuriken. Explosive tags. Scroll," as I briefly ran my hands over each item. "Book. Pen. Uh, shoe. Riiiight. Chopsticks. Hey, my headband! Sensei nicked it, I wondered where it went!" I'd been very upset over not having it, actually, and immediately tied it around my neck to make sure it didn't mysteriously vanish again. "Um, hand fan. Toothpick…? Random small box. What the _hell _is this thing?"

I ran my fingers over the last item a little more closely, reading the embossed writing with a raised eyebrow. "Fairy floss nail polish? Ooookaaay, whatever floats your boat, dude." I checked the rest of the line, suddenly beaming as I came across three scrolls, one with messy writing spilling onto the outside. "My scrolls! Yeah! I wondered where they went! _Mine!_" I yelped as the doctor reached for them and snatched them up myself, scrambling backwards and grabbing my abandoned backpack from the floor, shoving all three into the side pocket and pulling the drawstring tight before sitting on it. "Mine mine mine!"

I half-expected the doctor insisting on me handing the scrolls back, but he seemed to pause and consider, then let it go. "Okay, Naruto, we're going to practise your balance a little more today, alright? So can you stand up for me, please, and walk towards me? Don't rush it – just take your time, one step at a time – I promise you won't fall –"

I walked over to him flatly, squashing the impulse to step on his feet out of spite.

"Are we going to do anything more interesting today?"

The doctor chuckled. "Now, now, Naruto, one step at a time."

I think I am going to scream.

_**

* * *

**_

Attention: _**Hatake Kakashi**_

_**Memo:**_

_Kakashi! Did you see your boys fight? Talk about insane-but-wicked! (Well, the girl lost, but two outta three ain't bad.) I want some of whatever it is you have those brats of yours snorting. What is it and why aren't you sharing?_

_Signed,_

_Mitarashi Anko_

* * *

I was lying flat on my back again, as close to glaring at the ceiling as I could get. I wasn't sure how long I'd been in hospital now – I kept falling asleep and waking up, and I was losing the ability I'd had of being able to tell what time it was. Whatever drugs they had me on were very disorientating, and I didn't know what time it was or what day and no one seemed to really care enough to _tell _me unless I asked them in between their stupid pointless little doctor exercises and for all their talk of one step at a time half of them seemed to want to get out of the room as fast as they could and –

I cut off the furious mental rant as footsteps and a vaguely familiar chakra source approached, sitting up to look at the door and hoping it was who I thought it was. I'd only really started identifying people by their chakra signatures after the Wave mission, or maybe a little before, so I couldn't be totally certain without hearing –

The footsteps, exactly the right beat, the slight 'chank' of the doorknob as he turned it a little too far – he always did that –

"Iruka-sensei?" I asked anxiously, tilting my head as the door swung open.

"Naruto!" I winced at the forced cheer.

"Jeeze, Sensei, I'm not terminal," I said. "You don't have to sound so tragically trying-to-smile-in-the-face-of-adversity for me. _I'm okay_, really."

Iruka-sensei hesitated a beat, before moving closer with the sound of sandals sliding on cheap hospital laminate flooring. My bed dipped as he sat down, and I grinned in his approximate direction, hugging a pillowcase holding my scrolls and notebook – I'd taken to sleeping on them after the doctors had tried to take them again, muttering stupid things about unhealthy attachments and delusional behaviour, all because they found me reading my scrolls in the middle of the night. _One time_! I could only conclude that Kakashi-sensei hadn't decided to share the tidbit that I could still read with the medics, the bastard. I knew there was a reason I liked him.

Iruka shifted, and my mind jerked back to the present and the sensei currently in the room. "It's super-cool you came to visit, though, Sensei!" I chirped. "Did you come straight from school? It is after-school time, right? Or are you skipping to see me? Ha, I knew I'd convert you one day, Sensei! Skive for your life!"

"It's five in the evening," Iruka-sensei broke in, amused. "School's been out for hours."

I slumped. "Damn." He chuckled, lifting the whatever-it-was he'd carried into the room in his hand when I'd heard it swiping his clothes in passing every now and then.

"Do you remember, before the exam, I told you that if you s-survived, I'd treat you to ramen?" I didn't call him on the way his voice broke at the word 'survived', hating how upset Iruka had been by this whole thing. I just nodded, smiling widely.

"Yuh-huh! I'm holding you to it, too, so no trying to weasel out of it! The moment those nurses look away, I'm _outta_ here, and you're gonna buy me the biggest bowl of ramen that old man can make!"

Iruka chuckled, still fiddling with his package. "I can do you one better. You can't go to ramen, so I brought ramen to you. Smuggled it in."

I froze, an excited tremor running through me, before I kicked my legs and waved my arms, shrieking, "YOU ARE AWESOME! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!"

"Are you talking to me or the ramen?" Iruka-sensei teased as he carefully slid a warm bowl into my hands, supporting it for much longer than necessary. Had my eyes not been slit in two and then bound by bandaging, I'd have opened them wide at him. As it was, I did my best to broadcast innocent surprise.

"Huh? Sensei, you're still here?" I said.

"Cheeky brat," Iruka-sensei said fondly, now arranging my fingers around a set of chopsticks. "You got them?" he asked, and I nodded, fiddling the utensils around in my hand until I had a comfortable grip on them and digging into my food. I almost missed the adult's chuckle. "It figures that nothing could possibly dampen your ramen-eating skills. Don't spill it on yourself, okay?"

I pulled off offended even with my mouth full. "Sensei! I'm not a baby!"

He stayed with me, talking and keeping me company, long after the ramen was all gone. He was still there when I eventually slipped into sleep, and the last thing I knew was his fingers carding through my hair soothingly, and the slight hitching of his breathing, almost….

Almost as if he was…

…Crying…

_**

* * *

**_

Attention: _**All Jounin, Special Jounin of Konohagakure**_

_**Memo:**_

_Stop sending me memos. I mean it._

_Signed, _

_Hatake Kakashi_

_P.S. (Eat your hearts out. Nya, nya.)_


	15. Not

Twin2: Okay, guys, I got lots of reviews about this, so I'll tell you again: _I was overseas_. I was literally back in my home country for six hours before I started working on this. Also, temper is nasty. GET OUT! (throws something at younger brother, who makes a run for it)

Twin1: Right then, while my sister murders my brother, she also got a lot of reviews asking why Naruto put up with the hospital for so long. Thing is it wasn't actually that long, only three or four days – it's broken up quite rapidly. Really. It wasn't long at all; he's just falling asleep intermittently. Have you ever been _on_ those drugs? You're lucky if you can remember what month it is.

Twin2: (bending coat hanger back into a slightly less mangled shape) Also, a note for Anonymous-is-a-pretty-bad-name: it wasn't fainting that was the problem, it was not vomiting all over the keyboard. Not to mention all my original edits were destroyed when my computer decided it hated me following the six-week absence. Three and a half hissy fits later, and not all of them were the computer, I'm still not happy with this. But Twin1 is blackmailing me.

(And if anyone's rolling their eyes at the 'jetlag', I just typed 'sixteen' instead of 'fifteen' in the chapter title.)

LAST EDITED: Half an hour after posting, due to jet lag. I apologise to those of you who read the first version and were confused. Or amused.

**

* * *

**

Fifteen: Not

I had avoided being slipped any more of the sleepy-drugs, so I was now reasonably certain it was day five of the hospital stay. Not for sure – I caught sleep in, like, two-hour snatches as different drugs cycled through, which was really annoying, thinking back on it. Now, though, whatever painkiller I was on was mild enough for my head to be aching faintly, which was about as clear-headed as I was going to get.

It was still fairly early in the morning, something like six – about three-quarters of the hospital was still asleep. I leaned down and touched my toes, smiling when none of my muscles really protested at the movement and shifting slightly to stretch my legs against the wall. It was about time, I mused; being unable to move without pain had been very annoying. Was that normal, for other ninja, after a big fight?

Che. Sucks to be them.

I laced my fingers and pulled my arms slowly up behind my back, being careful not to push too much farther than the first strains of muscle – pull too hard at this one and you could actually snap the tendons. With Kyuubi out of commission I would prefer not to risk it.

But a couple of flips should be okay, as long as I didn't knock over the drip. Which meant I was going to knock it over for certain. So I was just going to have to try not to.

I spread my feet a little, lowering my centre of balance, and without warning flipped perfectly backwards, landing squarely on my feet with my hands out only a little for my balance. I beamed. Perfect.

Okay, and one-two-three –

Flip-flip-flip one-two-three all in a row, feet pounding into the floor at even, measured intervals. Three perfect flips, no pauses, no touching the ground with my hands. Good. I hadn't slipped up too far in my hospital stay, then, although my arm was now stinging thanks to the twisted tubes – stupid drip. I hated the damn thing, but the doctors freaked every time I went to yank it out, so I left it alone, if only to shut them up.

"Uzu – Naruto, what do you think you're doing?" Yori shouted, sounding horrified. I scowled. Hadn't she gone to talk to the doctor? Damn – I had been preoccupied, not noticing her come up like that.

"I'm just practising my flips, checking my muscles still respond okay," I told her, stretching my shoulders again and leaning sideways, one arm over my head as I stretched out the triceps and rib muscles. Ooh, ouch, that hurt. Found a bruise. How did I get that one? …Oh yeah, walked into the doorknob yesterday.

"Naruto, you need to rest," the nurse insisted, coming forwards. I snorted.

"I've been lying around for long enough. I need to get back into training, or I'll have no chance in the third exam," I explained breezily.

"Naruto, I think that fighting in the third exam might be a bad idea," Yori said.

I snorted. "That's what everyone keeps saying to me. But you just wait and see! I'm gonna do great! I'm not about to give up just now!"

"Speaking of which, Naruto," said the doctor, whose name I still couldn't remember. "I've been meaning to talk to you about this. I really don't think you should fight in the third exam."

I sighed with a fierce scowl, but he continued without seeming to notice that I was disagreeing.

"As a matter of fact, Naruto, I think this is starting to get all too dangerous. I think that participating in the third exam would be too much for you, especially with your new injury. And it's so much bigger than that. You ought to quit being a ninja before you get yourself killed."

That stopped my grumbling, rebellious thoughts cold.

Quit being a ninja?

Give up entirely?

Stop trying to learn techniques, stop learning to fight?

Being a ninja was my _life._

Did he even realise what he was asking me?

Stop fighting?

Give up?

Stop _living?_

I refocused on his words – "there are other things that you could do instead –" but I wasn't cold anymore. I was hot with anger.

How _dare _he?

Say that I shouldn't be a ninja anymore?

Didn't I have a say in this?

Wasn't this _my life _he was playing with?

"You –" I choked out, finding it difficult to speak through the intense heat in my chest and throat. "You –" I couldn't even get a coherent sentence together in my head, let alone get it in the air. The doctor had paused in his speech, my strangled sputtering apparently getting his attention as I struggled to get something, _anything _together.

"You cannot be fucking serious," I finally gasped out.

The doctor got the wrong impression. "Oh no, I'm perfectly serious, Naruto-san," he said, sounding disgustingly happy with what he was saying. "You can easily find another job, a less dangerous one, in which your disability won't hamper you as much. You could even return to a civilian school or something similar if you wanted."

I let out a strangled sound that was _meant _to be a curse and shook my head violently. I couldn't _imagine – _did he _know _what this meant to me? Did he _know _what he was trying to do?

Not being a ninja…

I think it would just kill me.

I stopped trying to put a full sentence together, just letting out an anguished cry and yanking out my drip needle, making the doctor yelp, before I whipped around and sprinted unerringly for the window. (By the way, don't try this at home, unless you're a ninja.) I'd left it open earlier for some air that didn't reek of antiseptic, so it was easy to just vault over the sill and let the chakra in my feet catch hold of the brick. I shot towards the ground with gravity helping probably more than it should have, more thankful than ever for Kakashi teaching us tree-walking – or wall-walking – in Wave Country.

I blocked out the frantic shouting from behind me as I landed neatly upright, and ignored the fact that I was probably going to get in trouble later as I bolted across the open field. I was instinctively heading for the cool weight at the edge of my senses that was a forest and within seconds was darting between the trees, glad I'd had the sense to insistently change into my own clothing before I'd done anything this morning.

I was furious, as angry as I could ever remember being. How _dare_ he? How dare _they? _They couldn't just – just say that I couldn't do this any more! Couldn't be a ninja! I had _worked _so _damn hard _for this, and they thought they could just take it away? My left hand skimmed a tree, the sharp pain of the bark cutting the back of my hand coming through to my raging mind and making me slow down, remembering to make a group of shadow clones to get my bearings. Better they walked into trees than me – the yelps and puffs were enough for me to figure out hazards.

I was still shaking with anger.

How _dare _they?

I slowed down and stopped, clenching my fists and just letting my clones smash through the forest and get dispelled one by one to build up a map. How dare they… they didn't know how long I had worked, how many times I fought with my own chakra to get it under control, how long I spent trying and trying to recall colours I hadn't seen in years to get the henge right, how long it took me to be able to relocate myself with kawarimi.

I sighed harshly, irritated, as a clone fell in a lake with a 'splash'. _Stupid clone. Stupid doctors. Stupid… aaaaarrrgghh!_

Another one fell in, and I growled, baring my teeth furiously. Stupid, _stupid _clones!

"Well, we're copies of you, so what does that say about you?" one of the clones said rudely from nearby. I threw a kunai at it, the sound of yet another dispelling clone more satisfying than it should have been, and I grinned, before scowling as _another _clone fell in the water and drowned. Stupid things. Were they trying to walk on the surface of the water or something?

I paused in my raging, focusing on that thought. Back in Wave, Zabuza had walked on water. It hadn't been interesting enough at the time to focus on, what with imminent death and everything, but now that I thought about it, I realised Kakashi had done the same thing at one point, and remembered their chakra flow half-focused to their _feet_, although they hadn't seemed to be noticing it.

A shinobi skill, like tree climbing, like Kakashi-sensei had taught us in Wave? Was it something like that – maybe the next level up? I frowned – _sticking _to the water sounded like a bad idea to me. But hey, if Sensei could do it, it was worth a shot.

I sent a clone to test the water depth, not wanting to drown ('cos I can't swim very well) if I slipped up the first few hundred times. Ha. 'If', I say. Ha ha. _If._

Anyway, moving on; it took a few minutes to find a spot where the water didn't randomly drop twenty feet without warning; it was deeper than I would have liked, even right at the bank it was maybe up to my waist, but it would do. I dispelled all the clones, needing to work this out on my own – plus, some of them had started squabbling – and tried to think for a few seconds, imagining what had made it work for Sensei and sword-dude.

Then I gave up thinking and just channelled some chakra to my feet, stepping into the water.

SPLASH!

Well, that didn't work. And the water was _cold!_

I waded out crossly, immediately walking out again, with exactly the same result.

Four more times I tried the exact same thing, focusing my chakra and trying to stick to the surface of the water, but it just wasn't working. It wasn't even a matter of me using too much chakra; it just _wasn't working._

Okay, so sticking wasn't the answer. I'd thought it sounded stupid in the first place.

Maybe the opposite? Float instead of stick?

I shrugged, my mind completely occupied with the new problem as opposed to the one waiting at the hospital. I was soaking wet already. One more try wouldn't hurt.

I put my hands together, folding the ring and pinkie finger of my left hand over my right ones and keeping the pointer and middle straight in the ram seal, focusing a swirling burst of chakra to my feet, forcing it to spread and hover instead of try to stick.

Carefully, I put one foot on the surface of the water, and began to lean on it, pushing my weight down against it and waiting for water to splash against my foot.

The chakra held.

I grinned, instantly cheered up by the fact that this was working. I focused chakra to my other foot, to step out fully, and the chakra in the first foot wavered slightly, making it fall through into the water. I yelped as I toppled forwards, ending up nearly neck-deep as I sat on the lakebed.

Great. This could be harder than I thought.

At least a quarter of an hour later I was still having no luck, and was wet head to toe to boot. Grumbling, I dragged my water-logged self out of the water and sat on the bank to a) dry off and b) think over this problem. _Water isn't a solid surface, 'specially not running water like Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza were standing on. You can't just shove out a solid wave of chakra and hope it's okay – it's more complex than that,_ I thought. _The water changes every second, with every breath of wind, every slight current of the water, with ripples and waves and the rush of water as it's pulled downstream. You'd have to adjust the chakra output, every second, to get it right._

Don't get me wrong – I'm no genius. This was what I'd worked out in the last twenty minutes while getting myself soaked experimenting. It wasn't like I could see what I was doing – but every time I felt a breeze, I fell in. The one time I felt a fish come close, I fell in. This did not take a genius of either Sasuke or Sakura's calibre to figure out.

I sighed, leaning back and tilting my head to the sky, frowning contemplatively. This wasn't easy. It was obviously going to be more trouble than I anticipated, but still… walking on water! Mastering a skill like that would be _so cool!_

I grinned and clambered to my feet, focusing my chakra for another go and stepping out onto the lake, promptly falling in and cursing at the coldness. My chakra was seriously not cooperating, and it was making this very difficult.

Splash, curse.

Splash, curse.

Splash, curse.

Splash, curse curse curse.

I really wasn't getting anywhere with this, except steadily wetter, colder and more frustrated. But I kept trying, with varying results, for at least twenty minutes.

Splash, curse.

"AAAARGH! WHY WON'T THIS WORK!" I finally hollered, staggering out of the water and shaking myself off furiously. This had ceased to be amusing! Every time I thought I'd got it, my chakra would shift! Or the ripples in the water would become too violent for me to compensate in time! WHAT THE FUCK?

Odd giggling drew my fury away from my chakra's random flares and onto the vague chakra essence I sensed at the edge of the lake. "What the hell are you laughing at, you old geezer!" I bellowed in his direction, lashing out at the water with the flat of one palm.

The giggling stopped abruptly as I started to haul myself out of the water again, still cursing violently under my breath, and I turned my head suspiciously to the chakra essence. It was shadowed, like Orochi-freak's, but the shadow was fainter, harder to focus on, wavering like it wasn't quite there – this was very good chakra shielding. Obviously someone who was used to hiding, not like the snake-guy, who was clearly a showoff. Bastard.

I decided to ignore it, seeing as he hadn't tried to kill me yet, and instead glared at the water. This was so damn hard! My chakra was flaring and flickering uncontrollably, and it was driving me nuts!

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Getting worked up was not going to help me here. I waited until the heat had faded from my head and my heart rate was quieter before focusing my chakra again, holding onto it with an iron grip as I stepped out, instantly altering the output of that foot as the water started to shift. My foot went two inches into the water, but that was all. I pulled the other foot out, slowly, carefully maintaining my balance and the chakra flow, and then I was standing sort-of on top of the water.

I could hardly believe it, and sure enough, just a few seconds later my chakra wavered the wrong way, my control slipped, the water splashed, and the air was filled with cursing once again.

"Hey, brat, you're disturbing the peace!"

I spat out a mouthful of water. "_What _peace? I've been cursing my ass off for the last hour!"

"Just shut up already, before you scare off the skinnydippers!"

"The… what?" For a few seconds I was confused before I remembered Kiba's definition of the word, when I burst out, "Why would you care?"

"I'm watching them! It's great research!"

"Why would you want to watch naked ladies swimming?" I asked blankly, totally confused. Sheesh, and I thought Gai was weird! "That makes no sense!"

"No sense? Kid, you have been horrifically deprived!"

Okay, this was starting to annoy me now. The guy made less sense the longer he went on, and I wasn't getting any further with my water walking. What a pain. Grumbling under my breath, I pulled myself upright, dripping water, and dragged myself out of the lake again, mumbling obscenities that would have made some of the coarser jounin blush. "What the hell is wrong?" I muttered, shaking my hands in a feeble attempt to dry them. "Why won't this work, dammit?"

"What, not interested in the delights of the elusive female?" the man asked, his voice a little louder – he must have turned towards me, because his chakra hadn't moved.

"No," I said blankly, slumping flat on my back on the bank with my feet in the water. "Why would I be?" My bandages were soaking wet – they had been splashed numerous times. _They are going to be a pain later, aren't they?_

For several seconds there was silence, and I began to ignore him, instead turning back to the issue of my chakra. If it wasn't for the fact it had been bothering me since the fox got sealed, I'd just think this was a bad day, but unfortunately, it wasn't. The fox had something to do with this.

"What're you doing anyway, brat?"

I considered whether or not to answer him, before deciding that with ninja chakra, this guy might know what I was doing wrong. And even though he smelt weirdly of flowery soap, his chakra felt like someone born and raised in Konoha, even with a curious waver at the edges that felt unfamiliar. I didn't feel like I couldn't trust him. Even… the opposite.

"I'm trying to do water walking, but I can't get it right," I explained. "Gah, this is such a _pain…_"

"Hmph." The chakra had shifted closer to me. "What'd your sensei tell you?"

"Huh? He didn't say anything – I haven't even seen him for two days," I said, confused.

"What, so he just sent you out here and said 'walk on water'?"

"No! Sensei's lazy, but he's not _that _bad! No, he did it while we were in Wave Country a few weeks ago, and I figured it would be a useful skill, if I could get it to work," I explained, sitting up and turning my head to him again.

There was another short pause, before the man said abruptly, "Channel some chakra. Don't get up, just focus."

I shrugged slowly, putting my hands back into the ram seal and tugging at my chakra, which swirled against my grip, then ebbed into it and began to spiral through my coils, making my skin tingle faintly as it brushed the surface.

"Now wha–"

I was cut off by a sudden blow to the stomach and doubled over, gasping for air, and suddenly there was a flare of incredible power, the feeling of something being loosed, flashing through my coils, heating them from the inside out.

**Long time, no annoy, brat.**

_Hey, Kyuubi, _I thought, sprawling out on the sand again.

**Honestly, I can't get to you for a week, and **_**this **_**is the condition you're in? **the fox grumbled, prodding at torn muscles and cuts with his chakra to reboot the healing process. **SHI – what in the nine layers of hell did you do to your head? Sheesh, if you weren't already blind, this gash would have done it, you clumsy son of a badger… che, how much blood are you missing? Are you **_**completely **_**incapable of the basics of first aid? I'm a soul-sucking demon and even **_**I **_**know better than what's here!**

I ignored the fox doing emergency repairs and instead yelled, "What the hell was that?"

"Just something to loosen you up," he said, a smirk in his voice. "Try it again."

Scowling, I stood up, focusing my chakra and stepping out onto the water. The cloud of chakra wavered, then held.

I blinked, stepping out fully. Warm energy burbled through my system, but it wasn't the stubborn, vicious resistance it had been since the fox was sealed. It shifted easily with every nudge of my willpower, and as I took several experimental steps on the water, nothing slipped. I didn't fall. My chakra was under perfect control.

I spun around to face the chakra source still standing on the shore. "How did you know that would work?" I demanded. _He released that double-up seal, so he knows at least a little sealing… a pity I don't know the complexity of the seal, or I'd have a better judge of his ability._

"Trick of the trade, kiddo," was the easy reply, and I blinked. _He knows sealing quite well, then. He's good… really good. Someone of his level, maybe I've heard of him…? I can't remember any sealing masters from Konoha since the Yondaime, and he's kind of dead…_

"Who are you?" I asked.

The guy did this funny shuffling motion, then a hop, then something that I had _no idea _what he was doing. All the whilst shouting a list of titles - something about Toad Sannin, and Grand Seal Master, but then I guessed that one already.

There was a long silence as he waited for my reaction.

"Great. My seal problem was solved by a lunatic. I wish Sasuke was here; at least then he'd be able to tell me what the crazy man looks like."

"I _am _right here, you know," the man, Jiraiya, said, sounding faintly amused. "Who's Sasuke?"

I turned my whole body in his direction, still moving warily on the water, and shifted a bit closer before replying, "My teammate, and my best friend. If he was here I'd teach him how to do this, but…" I scowled and cut myself off, feeling a little disconcerted.

"But what?" Jiraiya pressed.

I shrugged uncomfortably, still walking a circle on the top of the water and marvelling at the fact that I had yet to fall in. "He and Kakashi-sensei are out training. He has to learn a new technique for the third stage of the Chuunin Exams, so he hasn't been able to visit me in the hospital since the second stage finished. It's been really boring without him, it's kinda why I'm out here in the first place."

"Hmm…" For a moment he said nothing, and I sped up how fast I moved on the water, forcing myself to react quicker to alter the chakra, even darting abruptly from side to side to make it harder, my senses and mind adjusting rapidly to keep up. "So you're supposed to be in the hospital, then?" He sounded highly amused, and I snorted slightly myself, but the mirth died at his next question: "Why'd you come out here?"

I scowled, slowing in my movements, and pointedly turned my head away from him. "I told you, I was bored." My voice was sullen and flat, and I could feel my control starting to waver in the face of my suppressed anger, and I walked off the water stiffly before I could lose it altogether and get wet again. "I hate sitting still for too long. And the hospital fumes were making me feel sick."

"Well, I think it might be time you went back," he said calmly, not seeming to notice my fury – or if he did, he was ignoring it. "They're probably getting worried about you. The doctors are kind of finicky about people escaping from the hospital."

"Che," I grumbled, but I knew I'd have to go back eventually. "Fine."

True to the guy's assumption, there were people rushing _everywhere, _obviously in various states of alarm, and I raised an eyebrow, half-amused by the panic I had caused.

"NARUTO, where the hell have you been?" Natsu screeched, suddenly grabbing my shoulder, making me flinch. I hadn't noticed her creeping up on me. "Everyone has been so worried! Thank you for bringing him back, Jiraiya-sama. Naruto, your sensei is in a panic! Why on earth did you bolt off like that?"

I stiffened and scowled, literally feeling myself shutting down, but Natsu didn't seem to notice as she dragged me back to my room. "And you're soaking wet! We'll have to change those bandages straight away – were you _swimming? _Or did you just fall in the water? Whatever the case, there's pond water in your eyes – that's going to need to be cleaned, very well, now sit down and wait for the doctor!"

Said doctor appeared nearly instantly, and I ignored the lecture on not running off and scaring people like that while Natsu covered me with several blankets and towelled me off, turning my head away from both of them and scowling. Then suddenly my expression brightened, and I sprang to my feet, yanking off the remaining bandaging and sending the bedding flying and springing for the door, howling, "SASUKE!"

I jerked the door open, pulled my friend inside, and then slammed it again, grinning like a maniac. "Sasuke, it's about time you visited! I've been _so damn bored! _How's your training going? Is Kakashi-sensei actually teaching you anything useful? What's your new technique like? Can you do it right yet?"

"Naruto, calm down," Sasuke sighed, patting the top of my head condescendingly, but I was so pleased to see him that I ignored the patronising gesture and just beamed at him. "Hey, your eyes have healed! When did that happen?"

"Huh?" I put a hand to my face, ignoring the doctor's indignant splutters, prodding cautiously at the area that had been an open and rather painful wound, feeling only a rough line of scar tissue. "Hey cool! That musta happened this afternoon when –" I cut myself off.

"When you escaped from the hospital and scared the crap out of everyone," Sasuke completed. He tugged lightly on my hair, a silent _Tell me what you did later, _and I made a face at him.

"Uzumaki, please sit!" said man insisted. "You need to calm down!"

"What the hell is with you people and calming me down?" I screeched at the top of my lungs. I wasn't about to be nice and polite and cooperative, oh hell no. "I _am _calm, dammit! Do I need to be any calmer? Am I s'posed to be unconscious or something! Sheesh!"

Sasuke waited until I'd finished shouting, then said, "Feel better now?" I glared at him, but I nodded anyway. "Good. I heard you've been giving the doctors a bit of trouble? Something about locking yourself in the bathroom…?"

"They were bugging me!" I whined. "Seriously, how many times do I have to tell them what this object is or where this recording was taken or how many steps there are around the room or where the bathroom is or how many chairs are in the reception area?" My voice rose in a furious screech at the end of that speech, and I had to pause to gasp for air.

"But seriously, Naruto, three times?" Sasuke sat down on my bed, trying and failing to keep the laughter out of his voice.

"I lost my temper three times," I said sulkily, pouting at him. "_You _try getting poked and prodded and stared and scolded and 'Naruto can you walk in a straight line' for five days and see how long it takes _you _to snap! I think I did pretty damn well, _thank _you!"

A sharp knock at the door pulled us from our verbal spar, and as I glanced at the door I sensed Jiraiya and Kakashi-sensei coming in, sensing them feeling more solemn than before – what now? More bad news? Or were they going to try to talk me out of being a ninja as well?

"Naruto, I need to get back to training Sasuke, so I'm afraid he's coming with me again," said Kakashi pleasantly, and I sighed, sitting down heavily on my bed and smiling sadly at Sasuke in farewell. "We'll visit again soon, don't worry."

"See ya, dobe," my friend said teasingly, and I stuck out my tongue at him.

"Yeah, yeah, don't kill yourself training, teme," I replied, half-smiling.

I felt them go, tipping my head as the door closed behind them, and the doctor moved forward again to inspect the once-gash over my eyes. His hands were shaking slightly. "Incredible…" he whispered. "This… just isn't possible! This was – this was _recent, _a dangerous wound, and now – it's nothing more than scar tissue! This is _amazing! _How could this have happened?"

I made a face, wondering how to answer this. If the doctor _actually _didn't know about Kyuubi, I didn't want to tell him, and if he did… I didn't want him suddenly spouting some crap about the demon 'possessing my body' or some such babble if I reminded him.

It turned out to be Jiraiya who saved my butt. "It's the brat's kekkei genkai – advanced healing. Something funny was done to his system and it took a while to kick in, but once it gets going, it's very effective."

_Healing kekkei genkai? I thought that was just you._

**It **_**is **_**just me, you moron – he's lying. We need to do something about this 'lying does not exist' thing you've got going on.**

_I do not! Who was it who knew Kabuto wasn't to be trusted? Huh?_

…

_Hah! Told you so!_

…**I have suddenly been reminded of why I hate humans.**

"…by tomorrow morning he'll probably be ready to be released," Jiraiya was saying. "By then his kekkei genkai will have finished replacing the blood he lost and you can see how much damage was actually done."

I blinked. Was Jiraiya actually trying to get me out of the hospital? I could hug him!

…But I wouldn't, 'cos he was loony.

"As a matter of fact you could probably check him over now."

The doctor immediately moved in on me, gently prodding at the scar and asking me, "Does this hurt at all? Can you feel my fingers? Tell me if it hurts or you feel a tingling anywhere you shouldn't."

"No. Yes. No. No tingling. No. No, it doesn't hurt, dammit!"

"Can you tell me how many fingers I'm holding up? Can you see me, tell me what colour shirt I'm wearing?"

I hesitated. It stung to admit this. It actually hurt having to say this aloud.

"No. I can't see anything."

Straight away the poking got worse. "That's very strange indeed – this line, it scarred quite cleanly – but the eyes, there's no scar at all, it's like they were never touched in the first place! But if his vision is still gone – was something damaged internally? Maybe we should take a scan –"

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "That shouldn't be necessary. You remember what I said about his bloodline limit? It being forcibly activated and deactivated like it was may have disallowed some of its usual thoroughness, and some internal damage may not have been properly fully repaired."

Here was where I started to lose his train of babbling. Just because I'd been in the hospital nearly a week didn't mean I spoke the language. The rest of it went something like this:

"Because his kekkei genkai was repressed, blah blah blah scar tissue … never been needed blah blah blah bloodline blah blah blah blah blah. His eyes didn't scar blah blah blah blah… blah blah blah poison blah blah blah healing blah blah repressed blah blah. Blah blah blah scars blah blah blah poison blah remnants blah blah blah further damage. Blah blah kekkei genkai blah natural reaction blah blah delicate area. His body is blah blah blah, is _tuned _to that happening, so with it blah blah like it was he may blah blah blah blah blah." There was something about genetic code in there, too, but it made absolutely zero sense to me.

_Uh, fox, should I be understanding this? _I asked worriedly.

**No! He's making it up! Che, honestly. What actually happened is that, yes, because you were the complete and utter idiot that you are and got me sealed off, my chakra couldn't heal your worthless mouthful of hide. The venom had nothing to do with your eyes – it was busy eating away at your blood's oxygen saturation until your fever knocked it out of commission. Heh heh.**

_I had a fever?_

**Not one that you noticed, spawn. And that blather about scars is all lies, too. If it wasn't for my help you'd be covered in them, brat, so be very, very grateful, and I might not eat you when I get out of here. Forget that dragonesque crap about starting at the toes and working your way up – I'm going straight for the heart!**

When he started on like that there was no talking to him, so I tuned out the beginnings of his rant and tuned back in the (hopefully) end of Jiraiya's.

"…there are certain things that, once damaged sufficiently, cannot be repaired, even with a kekkei genkai like Naruto's. Its repression during the exam probably only compounded the problem," Jiraiya finished explaining.

_My eyes were still blinded from when I was four, and you couldn't fix that, even now, _I thought, with a faint mental sigh.

**Nope. Sorry, brat, but you're out of your infernal luck there. The poison did too good a job. **I was vaguely startled that Kyuubi broke from his monologue on the best ways to eat humans to say that, however sarcastically.

What followed was a long and complicated series of people all looking over me, trying to find something wrong and bickering amongst themselves over why I'd randomly healed, but my eyes remained damaged (despite an apparent abundance of evidence to the contrary). It was all very boring.

A good three or four hours after I'd been returned to the hospital, when I was beginning to give up hope on ever being released from this crazy OCD place, I glanced up from where I was sitting cross-legged on my bed. There was a platoon of doctors outside, still arguing, and I suspected it was going to get ugly sooner or later, but those nutjobs weren't my problem. No, I was interested in the stolid chakra source meandering down my corridor.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" I said eagerly as he let himself in, the babble from outside briefly rising in intensity as the door opened. "Did you come to get me out of here? _Pleeeeaaaaase _say yes."

I think I unnerved him a bit. There was a second or two of silence before he answered me, saying, "Hello, Naruto. How're you doing today?"

"Boooored!" I answered instantly, shifting uncomfortably on the bed. "The doctors have all gone crazy again! Even worse than when you picked up Sasuke – where'd he go, anyway? – and I really want to get _out _of here! I _hate _hospitals, Sensei!"

Kakashi chuckled softly; I pouted at him. "I don't think the doctors would appreciate it much if I stole you. They tend to be, ah, fussy about that, as I'm sure you've noticed…"

"Pleeeaase, sensei?" I begged, tilting my brows into the puppy-dog eyes. "I'm really _really _bored in here! I'll love you forever! I'm not hurt anymore so _please, _can I go home?"

Kakashi chuckled again. "I'll see what I can do, Naruto," he said, ruffling my hair reassuringly before he vanished again.

I sighed forlornly, flopping back on my bed so that my bare feet touched the wall above the cold metal frame of the head of the bed. These people had _no _respect for an active mind, I grumbled silently, glaring at the ceiling. How anyone could expect me to sit still and be quiet and just listen to music or walk tamely around my room under orders was _beyond _me. Hadn't I been labelled 'hyperactive' by just about every person who met me?

I tapped the wall with one foot, getting a faint but distinct echo as the sound vibrated across the surface. I hit it again, twice with the ball of my foot and then once more sharply with my heel, making a staccato pattern of sound. I smirked.

_Is there anyone close enough for me to annoy with this?_

I had made up an interesting little pattern by the time Sensei got back, kicking out at the wall rhythmically. The doctors had been entrenched in doctor-jargon for far too long for me to be interested in them – there was only so long I could sit and strain my ears to listen and try to decipher their strange language. The kicking-the-wall thing might be childish, but it certainly made me feel better.

"Ah, Naruto, I don't think the doctors will appreciate it if you kick out their wall," Kakashi informed me sternly.

"Tough," I grumbled, although I did stop and swing my legs over the bed towards him, feeling hopeful. "Didja manage to get me out of here?"

He shifted position slightly. "Well, I _did _manage to convince them that it might not be a bad idea to let me borrow you for a couple of hours," he admitted.

"YES!" I sprang off the bed in an instant, suddenly feeling jittery and full of energy as all the bounce I hadn't been allowed to work off over the last week bubbled to the surface. "I love you, sensei! Thank you! _Yes!_"

If I had to guess at the half-second of silence, Kakashi was rolling his eyes. "Come with me," he said lightly.

I followed him happily, not particularly minding his gentle hand on my shoulder steering me out of the complex. Anything was better than the hospital.

* * *

Kakashi eventually let me go in one of the training grounds – I'm not sure which one. "Okay, kiddo," he said brightly. "If you're so sure that you're fully healed, let's see what you can do. You still want to fight in the Chuunin Exam? Prove to me that you're not going to get yourself killed." He swiped his hand close to my face, and I twitched back.

My eyes automatically followed the trail of his fingers before I could stop them, and he asked, "Naruto, can you see my hand?"

For several seconds I didn't answer, not quite wanting to say it aloud. Then, quietly, "…No."

"How are you following it, then?"

"…I can hear the air moving, and I track it."

"Can you read this out to me, please?"

I frowned warningly as I gingerly took hold of the book. "This had better not be your porn novel again, Sensei…" But a quick skim later, I figured out it was actually about _fishing, _of all things, and read the extract without any problem. "You are so weird, Sensei… but this is better than the porn, so I won't complain. Not loudly, anyway."

"Can you form the twelve zodiac handseals for me?"

This was the kind of thing I could handle. Snake, rat, ram, monkey, ox, horse, dragon, dog, boar, bird, rabbit, tiger. Easy.

"Can you show me a henge?"

I flinched, then transformed into Iruka.

"…Hm. Picture perfect. You have a good memory, Naruto."

I grinned a little, then changed into Sasuke, complete with bored expression.

Kakashi chuckled a little. "Kawarimi?"

"…Only if I know where the thing I'm swapping with is." Then, just to tease him, I switched positions with him, laughing a little when he yelped. "And if I take it by surprise!" I grinned. It felt good to show off one of the few skills I was good at.

"What about bunshin?"

I smiled innocently. "What about Kage Bunshin?" A dozen of me flared into existence around us, and Kakashi muffled a snort. "Whaaat? I can't do bunshin! Sasuke says I just fry them…"

"I'll have a word to Iruka about that. Walk up a tree."

"Huh?" I frowned, but walked to the nearest tree that I remembered brushing against as we came out here and walked up its trunk with no trouble at all – the water walking I'd done yesterday had helped already, strangely enough. "Kakashi-sensei, I did this with my eyes closed when I first _learnt _this, so I dunno what you're proving. Teachers are weird."

"Aren't we just? Come down from there and throw a kunai at the tree; aim for the middle."

That wasn't hard – I had the tree pinpointed on my internal map now, so it was no problem at all. "Hm…" Kakashi seemed to be thinking, and I waited until he spoke up again. "Follow the kunai I throw and try to hit the same spots I do."

Another easy exercise – this one was one of the earliest ones I had ever worked on, once I could hold a kunai right. I threw swiftly in the instant Kakashi's weapon was sinking into the wood and there were either echoing clangs as they hit his kunai or the softer thuds when they missed and hit the wood nearby, my aim not being quite perfect. But I never missed the actual tree.

"…So? How was that?" I asked when he stopped throwing.

"That was good, Naruto. Let's take a break now, ok?"

"What, are you tired already?" I teased him, but wandered to the shade of one of the trees and leaned against it, slinging my arm over a low branch and staring blindly up at a sky I couldn't see. I wasn't even breathing harder – this was little more than a warm-up for me. Kakashi-sensei's life signs were all perfectly normal, so I knew this was easy for him, too. (If it wasn't, I'd be petitioning for a new teacher. Geez.)

I took a deep breath and let it out, relaxing. Kakashi was checking me, seeing how well I could operate. He wasn't trying to talk me out of being a ninja, had even stopped trying to talk me out of the third exam – he'd probably do that later, I admitted thoughtfully, but really, this hadn't turned out half as bad as I'd thought it would. Once I got out, the very _second _I got out of the hospital… things started looking up.

After a long, peaceful silence, I spoke up, nervously. "Ne… sensei?"

"Yes, Naruto?" he replied.

"Could… would you…" This was difficult to word right. What if he said no? "Would you… mind if I… touched your face?"

He was probably frowning a little. "What for?"

This could be interesting to try and sell. "Well…" I fidgeted a little, tipping my head away as if to avoid his eyes. "I can't… really… when I touch things, I… _know _what they look like. But things from before… I don't really remember. The visual stuff… I guess it didn't really take. But I can't really remember what you look like, and… well, I guess I don't like that."

I stayed quiet for a few seconds in the face of his silence, then ducked my head sheepishly. "Sorry, sensei – it's ok, I was just–"

"It's fine, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei interrupted, moving closer to me and either kneeling or sitting on the grass in front of me. "I was just a little surprised, that's all." He gently touched one of my hands, then lifted it to the side of his face.

His skin was faintly warm under my fingers, and for a second I held still, memorising his skin texture, before I let my hands skim over his face, a little shyly. True to Sasuke's word, Sensei wore his hitai-ate over his left eye, the cold metal making my fingers tingle. His nose was perfectly straight – _never been broken – _and I locked his features into my memory as a map of touch that counted as pictures now.

Kakashi-sensei _was _wearing a mask, I now knew, cotton from the feel of it. Sasuke had told me it was navy blue… "Hey sensei, this feels kind of thick. Are you wearing _two_ masks?"

"You are one weird kid," Kakashi said lightly.

I stuck out my tongue and gingerly patted at his hair – _Geez, Sasuke was right – _to finish my mental image. I dropped my hand away from my teacher's face and smiled. "Thanks, Sensei!"

"So you remember me now?" Kakashi-sensei teased, and I pouted playfully at him.

"You're easy to forget," I said loftily. Kakashi-sensei laughed and his clothes rustled as he spun and settled himself on the ground next to me, instead of in front of me. He leant back against the tree as well and there was a moment of expectant silence.

Eventually Kakashi spoke up. "You climbed that tree perfectly, earlier. But how did you know it was there?"

I blinked in confusion, then figured out what he wanted. "I remembered it from when we walked in – I brushed against it, so I knew where it was."

"You remembered it? Well enough to climb it, and hit it dead centre with a projectile?"

"Yeah," I said, a little uncomfortably. "But, Sensei, that's normal stuff for ninja. S'not that hard…"

"Hmm… Would you, say, be able to throw kunai at the spots we were aiming for before?" my teacher asked calmly, and I shrugged, then threw several kunai in response.

There were three clangs, making me raise my eyebrows, impressed with my own accuracy, and the rest of them hit wood. "Hey, that was pretty good," I remarked. "I think they were all fairly close, and three hit dead on."

"How do you know that?" Kakashi asked, and I blinked at him.

"Uhh… Sensei, I – I don't understand, I just heard it. I heard three kunai hit three of the ones in the tree and the others hit the tree fairly close. Heck, one of them brushed up against another as it went in!"

"Yes, I know. How did you hear that?"

There was a long pause as I contemplated this.

"Sensei. As far as I'm aware, sound is made of lots of vibrations that travel through the air. A tiny drum in your ear – which makes no sense, by the way – picks up the vibrations and sends them to your brain, where the brain works out what you're hearing. I hear the sounds of the kunai hitting the tree, or each other, and my brain translates that into 'direct hit' or 'sort-of miss'."

"Hmm…"

"Sensei, it's _normal. _Get over it. Please. You're starting to scare me."

He chuckled slightly. "I'm sorry, Naruto. But you said you tracked my hand by hearing? How can you do that? Human ears aren't that sensitive."

"Most of them aren't, but remember sensei, I'm weird," I pointed out to him. "And, only part of it is hearing. I can feel the air moving too, when you're that close."

"Ah, of course." He sounded calm and pleased. "Alright, kiddo, up you get. Time for round two."

There was a tangible shift in the air as I guessed Sensei was actively trying to forget every single time one of the doctors had told him _not _to push me, and I felt him smile at me. "Okay, Naruto, we're going to have a spar. Kunai, shuriken and other such tools allowed, but no lethal force, alright?"

I nodded to show that I understood him, and slid into an attack stance, breathing deeply and forcing the sound of my own heartbeat to the edge of my awareness: I didn't need to be distracted here. I waited for Kakashi-sensei to make the first move as I mentally took stock of the few supplies the doctors had either failed to confiscate or that I had stolen back.

Sensei started it off with a simple swipe that was easy to dodge, and my counter was blocked almost nonchalantly by my teacher. I scrambled away from several counter-punches, about half of them clipping my shoulders and the last one barely skimming my chest, but I'd skipped backwards just in time. My legs were nearly jerked out from under me by an unexpected blow to the ankle, and I flipped backwards and away, using the move I'd been practising before the Chuunin Exams had started. I nearly got it, too, only stumbling a little on impact instead of almost cracking my skull open.

I took a steadying breath, refusing to let myself get annoyed by my inability to land a blow. Kakashi-sensei was faster than me, and plenty stronger, and I was willing to say he was smarter, too. But that didn't mean I was going down without a fight.

I started off round two, going for a quick series of punches intended to distract my sensei and kicking viciously from below, aiming for ankles and shins (I would have gone for the somewhat-delicate knee, but couldn't reach without unbalancing myself, which was a no-no) and not letting up until I failed to block one of his counters. The strength behind the blow sent me rolling over the ground – I scrambled to my feet as quickly as I could, barely sparing time to cough for breath. Sensei was just closing in on me again when I suddenly sneezed, loudly, and he paused for a half-second, one that let me get my bearings enough to parry a couple of his punches without hurting myself.

He backed off briefly and I took advantage of the respite, considering going for one of my tags or maybe a kunai – I knew he was easily fast enough to stop me from doing that if I tried – but I still had to try – or this was _so _over. Kakashi-sensei wasn't even breathing hard, I thought with annoyance, although his heartbeat, faint by distance, was just a fraction faster than before. Ha.

"Come on, Naruto, you can do better than this!" Sensei scoffed as he came in close again, and I took a risk and made a snatch for my kunai pouch – he didn't try to stop me and I blocked his knife with my own, feeling a tingle of relief that I'd managed to grab it after all. This fight was much more difficult than any I'd faced with my team before – except for maybe the Forest Of Death. Here I had a vague idea of terrain, wasn't tree-climbing, and wasn't under attack by a crazed lunatic with a sword and more dirt clones than you could poke a stick at; but I also didn't have Sasuke at my back, warning me of things to watch out for, didn't have Sakura as our backup on the sidelines – I was almost surprised that I'd come to rely on the fangirl kunoichi – and my confidence had taken a bit of a pounding by everyone insisting I couldn't be a ninja anymore.

So it stung, a lot, when Sensei shouted at me, "Come on, Naruto! Has losing your eyesight made you a weakling?"

My mouth tightened and I shifted my hands into the cross-seal, forcing chakra through my fingers and barely mouthing the words 'Kage Bunshin' before finding myself surrounded by a mass of clones. Not as many as I'd made in that fight with Kiba in the prelims, but that one was an accident!

We converged on my teacher with a roar, a couple of clones getting in actual hits before being dispelled, but even the great Kakashi-sensei could suffocate under the dogpile of doom, and as such had the smarts to kawarimi out. Unfortunately for him, me and my clones all tracked him, and some of them even got off a volley or two of shuriken before being speared by Sensei's kunai. Ooh, that one must have hurt…

I heard a faint rustle of clothing – Sensei muttered something and his chakra flared – I thought I heard 'Doton' and it felt like that too – then it split off and he was underground and he was standing and watching me from the trees – _shadow clone –_

He had never used this jutsu with me around before, and it was _weird. _I felt faint vibrations from the ground underneath me through my shoes and I could hear him moving – _how the hell does that jutsu work? – _and I put my hand to the ground with a frown. I had three clones keeping an eye on Kakashi's kage bunshin and a fourth shadowing it, just in case, and to warn me if it made a move at any point.

The vibrations made a little more sense to my sensitive fingers, and I pinpointed my sensei with something approaching ease, his extremely muffled life signs supporting my guess. Me and my clones all skipped back, away from Kakashi-sensei's line of attack, and my mind spun through several jumbled methods, trying to figure out how to catch him off guard.

He changed direction suddenly, headed straight for a patch of clones, and with yelps we all dove aside, backing away from the underground ninja warily. Then, for no reason, he turned and went in another direction, away from any or all of us, and I frowned, trying to think _why – _I followed at a safe distance, wondering suspiciously what he was playing at – batty sensei, I swear –

This little game of follow-the-underground-leader continued for about five minutes, with Kakashi-sensei moving all around our training area and me and a selection of clones trailing him suspiciously, scrambling back whenever he turned on us and hoping to somehow get lucky. How the hell do you attack someone who's underground, anyway?

Then suddenly, he burst from the ground about ten metres in front of me – I let out a yell and sprang backwards, holding up a kunai to defend as four clones who'd rushed at him were dispelled –

"Hold up, Naruto. Time out."

I slowly lowered my kunai, raising an eyebrow at my teacher. "Did you just call _time out?_" I asked incredulously.

"Yes. Yes I did."

I shook my head at him but didn't argue, taking several deep breaths and trying to cool the adrenaline in my blood a little – the energy high was making me dizzy. Kakashi-sensei released his clone, the chakra signature flashing out of existence, and with barely a pause he turned back to me. "Naruto, how were you tracking me down there?"

I shrugged, considering putting my kunai away and deciding to hold onto it. "I heard you."

"You heard me? How?"

Now I groaned, turning my head to him in exasperation. "Sensei, we've been through this…"

He chuckled a bit at that, and I glared. "Sorry, Naruto, but I need to know how you were tracking me, what you were listening for and so on."

"Oh." I thought on it for a few seconds, then explained, "Well, I heard you moving… and, well, felt, too, I could feel the vibrations and I could tell where you were, but – I wasn't sure, that's not exactly a precise way of searching – I listened for your heartbeat and breathing."

I'm fairly sure Kakashi raised an eyebrow at that, and I could easily imagine his touch-map face shifting in my mind. "You can hear my heartbeat? Even underground?"

"Well, it was kind of muffled, but it was still there, y'know? And your breathing was louder – I'd know _your _breathing pattern anywhere, Sensei, and I could follow that, 'cos…" I frowned and bit my lip. How'd I hear it… "When you get closer it gets a bit louder, and more underneath me when you're using that jutsu. When you're further off it's fainter, and more like you're just lying on the ground as opposed to buried alive. Which is really creepy, by the way."

For a few moments my teacher was silent, just long enough for me to start getting bored and consider the merits of juggling the kunai I was carrying, before he said cheerfully, "Alright, Naruto, I think that's enough for today. Let's head back."

"Aw, man, _already?_" I complained instantly, not ready to go back to overpowering cleanliness, boredom, and continuous poking. "But Kakashi-_sen_sei…"

"Come on, Naruto, you don't want to hurt yourself this early. It'll give the doctors more excuses…"

"Sensei, I'm _fine. _We were only working for, like, half an hour."

"It's been nearly an hour and a quarter. It's time to go in."

I groaned as Sensei steered me back towards the hospital, wriggling and complaining and trying to talk my way out of it the whole time. Man, what did I have to do to escape _permanently, _kill someone? Or maybe maul a few and leave their body parts on the reception desk as proof of checkout?

…And if Kyuubi was leaking that much, I was _really _tired.


	16. Dependable

**Sixteen: Dependable**

_Attention: Hatake Kakashi_

_Memo: Kakashi, I have become aware that the paperwork concerning the withdrawal of your student Uzumaki Naruto from the chuunin exam is still conspicuously absent. Please rectify this mistake._

_Signed, _

_Sandaime Hokage_

_

* * *

_

Attention: Sandaime Hokage

_Memo: After an extensive session in which I tested Uzumaki Naruto's capabilities, I have found him suitably competent enough to exclude the option of his forced withdrawal from the exam. I will not be pushing the issue, as I have no need of that headache, and the brat is quite stubborn on this matter. I believe he is (for the present) compensating for his lack of sight by relying on his hypersensitive hearing and possible enhanced other senses. Naruto has had training of some form to teach him to function blind, though I have yet to find his teacher. (Refer to report of Blindfold Mission) As such, he is currently coping, and I have no reason to remove him from his earned place in the finals._

_If you still want to kick him out, you tell the brat. Bring earplugs, he's loud for a hypersensitive knucklehead._

_Signed, _

_Hatake Kakashi_

_

* * *

_

Attention: Uzumaki Naruto

_Memo: Naruto, sorry I couldn't tell you this in person, but I'm in a rush. You know me, busy busy busy! You've been released from the hospital, not because you've finished your physio, but because the medics are cross after that incident last week that we all know you were responsible for. Anyway, the Hokage wants you to move in with someone for a while until you find your feet – just someone to help you with the boring everyday stuff that you may have to relearn entirely now, harsh as that sounds. So, pick someone, move in. Sasuke's… acceptable but not ideal, because he's a kid too. You're welcome at my place, or Iruka-sensei's. Gai-sensei has also graciously offered you a room in his apartment. I'll be back this weekend, and I'll bring Sasuke with me – he's been pining for you, it's really very cute. Make up your mind by then, and we'll move you this Sunday, okay? _

_Signed,_

_Hatake Kakashi_

_

* * *

_

Attention: Sandaime Hokage, Hatake Kakashi

_Memo: So how does this memo thing work? I just talk, and you write down whatever I say and send it to Sensei? And the old man? Dude, your job sucks! But you must know, like, everything! Oh, right, the memo! Ummm… Sasuke, what'm I supposed to say? Oh, yeah! Um, I don't need to move – I'm okay living on my own. But, like, thanks for the offer and junk. Sasuke was crashing with me for a while, but I kicked his ass out, and I'm fine. Promise. So… yeah. No to the whole move-in-with-someone thing. That's it. What? Oh, okay, I just need to sign it? And you'll send it to the Old Man and Kakashi-sensei? Why can't I just tell them this, anyway…? Oh, right, okay, I'll sign._

_Signed,_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_

* * *

_

Kakashi's Log:

_Something is not sitting right with me about Naruto. He's too confident, too at ease. More than that, I've found no signs of even suppressed grief for the loss of his sight. Sure, he seems to be deluding himself into thinking this is some sort of long-term blindfold training, but there should still be… something. Who was it who taught him how to function without his sight in the first place? And why on earth did whoever-that-was think it was necessary? _

_Yet again, this train of thought has led me to the familiar territory of 'None of My Damn Business'. I'll have to keep my mouth shut and my eyes open, and hope that Naruto will trust me enough to tell me the truth. Until then, I'll try not to gag when swallowing his stories._

* * *

A drop of water landed on my outstretched hand, and I couldn't help jumping slightly in surprise as the icy water shocked the skin, slowly heating to a natural, almost undetectable temperature. _Water droplet…? _Another struck my elbow and a chill flushed through my shirt in patches, and I listened to the unsteady pattering that was increasing in intensity as startled mutters from nearby people alerted me to the fact that it was starting to rain.

I smiled faintly to myself, thinking, _Better get home. This shower's been building up for days – I'll be soaked through in seconds if I don't get back in time._

I darted through the rapidly emptying streets with the ease of long practise, dodging people and avoiding the edges of buildings. It was easier to travel now, but I didn't really get why. People had generally stopped throwing things at me or trying to trip me in the street now, although that probably had something to do with the fact that I was usually out with Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke, these days. Scary glares, I'm telling you.

Icy water was flecking my skin rapidly now, and the beginnings of puddles scattered under my sandals as I sprinted down the pathway, heading for home as quickly as I could manage. The people around me were all evacuating for the safety of nearby homes or shops to wait out the ensuing rainstorm, but I was nearly at my apartment now – just this last block, and then up the stairs…

The rain was heavy, water starting to soak my hair and clothing. Loudly raindrops attacked the buildings around me, creating a series of distracting echoes that made me slip and stumble as my mind tried to reconcile the pictures I was getting with the images I was expecting. Even the ground seemed to be shifting under the constant barrage of water. Every freezing cold droplet that struck my exposed skin created a tiny wave of shock, and by the time I scrambled through my apartment block doorway, I was shivering.

I hate rain.

Stumbling up the stairs before the annoying landlady could yell at me for tracking water, I could still hear rain attacking the glass panes of the windows. I was very glad I'd shut my window this morning – the thickness of the air had made it so hard to breathe, if it hadn't rained today, I'd probably have suffocated overnight. Would you like some air mixed in with that water?

Very humid.

Was there a point in there somewhere? Oh yes, the rain. I don't mind light rain – the drizzly stuff that most people hate – I like that, tingly and cool like dew. But I hate heavy rain. Distracting, echo-y –

"WA-CHOO!" I sneezed, making the neighbour's fluffy cat let out an indignant yowl as it shot up the stairs ahead of me. And, of course, the chills.

Shouldn't matter with a fire demon in my belly, right? Well, as I've discovered over the course of many years of contact, he likes to annoy me. Oh, don't get me wrong, he won't let me get sick – he won't have such a 'weak' vessel having control of his power – but he knows how much sneezes _hurt, _and how they screw with my senses, and laughs gleefully from the back of my head.

Shooting a mental bird at the sniggering fox demon, I sneezed again, grabbing hold of the doorframe so that I didn't stumble and hit my head in the ensuing dizziness. _Where did I put my keys…?_ I searched my pockets, wracked by intermittent sneezes, as wind and rain howled against the sides of the building, and I could _swear _I felt the structure shifting under the onslaught, shifting, sliding, crumpling, collapsing –

My hand closed around the jagged metal of the key and the sounds of splintering wood and screeching metal vanished from my mind. Fitting the key in the lock and muttering vague curses under my breath, I let myself into my apartment, brushing past the door and navigating the room with ease. There were a couple of random boxes I couldn't remember placing that I tripped over, but that was normal.

I shook myself off, water flying everywhere, and sneezed again, swearing aloud at the Kyuubi's laughter. Damn sadistic fox.

I changed into _dry _clothing quickly, rain pounding against the thin walls of my apartment. I was just considering what to have for dinner (instant ramen, instant ramen, air and water or instant ramen) when I felt a tiny flicker of something at the back of my mind. Putting it down to 'annoying fox', I continued shuffling through the kitchen and poking ramen packets, only to find myself freezing up as there was a faint crack, and then an _explosion_ followed by a harsh snarling rumble –

Thunder roared overhead, making the very building shake, and I felt vibrations tingling through my body as the heaviness in the air drove into my eardrums. There was pressure on my lungs and I felt my heartbeat quivering –

The thunder died rapidly, leaving my ears ringing in the relative silence of a howling rainstorm.

I staggered backwards, shaking and gasping for breath and tripping over something on the floor that hadn't been there a second ago – must have been knocked down in the thunder, couldn't hear, couldn't feel –

Gods, I _hated _thunder.

Shuddering, I forced a couple of choking breaths through my lungs, putting my hand against the wall, vaguely noting that the Kyuubi had finally killed my sneezes. _Damn fox, has to be good for something, I guess._

I flinched and stiffened, my heart racing uncontrollably as a second burst of thunder barked loudly, the sound a whip-crack or massively slamming door to my ears. I hate thunder – always have. What other people consider noisy and exciting is painful and downright terrifying for me. Loud noises _never _bode well, and thunderstorms make my head ache and my chest hurt and my ears start to ache from the pressure –

I like a bit of light rain. But thunderstorms _suck._

**Pathetic human, **Kyuubi sneered, and I shook my fist uselessly at the demon, only to sneeze again. **Afraid of a sound, can't even keep your own chakra under control, can't take a bit of water –**

_Like you're one to talk on the water thing, _I retorted sharply. _Be useful or be quiet!_

There was a growl, and then silence. The fox had gone to sulk.

I sneered back at him, baring my teeth to an empty apartment, only to gasp and jerk at a fresh bellowing peal of thunder exploding right overhead – I could _feel _it, the _floor _was trembling, I could _hear _my window _rattling, _I was _shaking _with the force of it –

I slid down a wall I hadn't realised I was leaning on for support to sit on the floor with a strangled sound. I _hate _storms.

* * *

Kakashi scanned the drenched street with a sharp eye, grey sheets of rain shuttering across the concrete as the rainstorm attacked nearby structures with the ferocity of wild animals. The odd flicker of orange kept catching his attention, but there was no sign of his young student, even as a fresh squall of wind blew icy stinging drops into his face.

"_Naruto!"_

The jounin's head swung around, his eye instantly picking up the blue shadow sprinting through the downpour, and headed towards him.

"Sasuke!" he shouted, catching up to the genin in a few long-legged strides. Both ninja winced reflexively as thunder growled angrily overhead, and as he realised the close proximity of his sensei the Uchiha stumbled to a halt and doubled over, struggling for air.

"Have you – seen – Naruto?" he gasped out, sucking in precious oxygen as he stared desperately at the silver-haired man through his own dark, waterlogged bangs.

Kakashi shook his head quickly, his heart rate quickening as his mind started to produce several highly unpleasant scenarios. "Why? Has something happened? Is he–" Another peal of thunder drowned out the remainder of his last sentence, bolts of lightning searing the dark clouds overhead and supercharging the air.

Sasuke shook his head helplessly, still gasping, and managed to sputter, "Thunderstorms – he – hates them. Noise – can't think – gets scared – always has –"

Kakashi already knew Naruto's uncomfortable reaction to loud sounds – could guess how the deafening rumbles would hurt his hypersensitive ears – and it wasn't at all difficult to imagine his student huddled in the thundering rain, blind and terrified.

The jounin shoved the mental image away and focused on the sopping wet Sasuke he had managed to steer under a shop hanging. "Where did you see him last?" he shouted over the din hammering against the roof. "Have you checked his apartment yet?"

"No!" the dark-haired boy shouted back, still breathing deeply but no longer gasping. "I was just on my way! He was out in the markets – looking for Sakura, I think!"

Eloquent but quiet cursing escaped Kakashi's lips as he quickly traced several hopefully likely spots for his blonde genin to be sheltering. "We'll go check his apartment first, and keep an eye out for him along the way!"

Lightning flashed again and thunder drowned out Sasuke's agreement, but both ninja darted away through the storm as the skies roared their fury above them. Kakashi let Sasuke take the lead, allowing the worried genin to lead him to the right floor and apartment number – he already knew where Naruto lived, but Sasuke was bordering on frantic as he checked the door – unlocked – and shoved it open.

The room was dark, lit by no more than the occasional burst of lightning visible through the cracks in the shuttered window. Sasuke stepped forward straight away, one hand hitting the nearby table, while the pair of them waited for their eyesight to adjust. Kakashi knew the darkened room didn't mean much, because as depressing as the thought was, the light wouldn't matter to Naruto. Light or no light, he was still unable to see.

A rasping breath of air caught both ninja's attention and in an instant they were focusing dark-adjusted eyes on the shadows of the floor. Sasuke moved first, kneeling next to the small figure that Kakashi suddenly realised was Naruto, curled up in a little ball on the unpolished wood of his apartment floor. He looked smaller than ever, trembling and flinching defensively at every crack of sound that burst from the clouds.

Slowly, Kakashi moved to kneel on the other side of his student as Sasuke spoke reassuringly to his frightened teammate, one hand on his shoulder. "Naruto, can you hear me? It's okay, we're here, it's okay, I promise. Can you hear me, Naruto?"

The blond flinched at the first contact, but the familiar sound of his best friend's voice made him start to uncurl from his protective ball, raising his head enough for his visitors to see his sightless, blankly scared eyes. "Sasuke?" he said softly, dull eyes wandering aimlessly around a room he couldn't see. "Sensei? Wha… what're you two doing here?"

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Kakashi asked instead of answering, fingers brushing at the blonde fringe and carding through Naruto's damp, unruly hair, his other hand inspecting a small cut on his right cheek. Through the contact, the teacher could feel his genin shivering violently.

"It's okay now," he promised softly. "We're here."

Blue eyes blinked in confusion even as Naruto allowed his teacher to help him off the floor and guide him to the bed. Another volley of thunder echoed, close enough to shake the walls, and Naruto cried out, jerking closer to the jounin as if to shelter against him.

Kakashi found himself holding this small, terrified child close to his chest, rubbing his back in an attempt to calm him down. Sasuke stepped close, looking a little resigned and a lot understanding, and placed his hands firmly on Naruto's shoulder blades. "Naruto," he said steadily. "It's okay. You're safe. You trust us, don't you? We're here to keep you safe."

"_Senseei!" Kakashi yelped, stumbling away from the window that had just lit up with a fantastic flash of light, accompanied by the terrifying explosion of thunder – to a ninja, even a ninja-in-training, that sound represented far too many things, most of them painful, all of them bad._

_The blonde teenager who was the five-year-old's mentor was amused, but trying very hard not to show it. "It's okay, 'Kashi," he said soothingly, yanking the small silver-haired child onto his lap and ignoring the indignant squeak. "Shh. I know the thunder's scary, but it's okay."_

"'_M not scared," the child mumbled, trying to pretend he wasn't shivering._

_He found himself being hugged quietly by his teacher, the gentle voice whispering in his ear, "It's okay, 'Kashi. Trust me. I won't let it hurt you. It's okay. I'll keep you safe."_

Kakashi blinked as Naruto jerked again, thunder rattling the shutters, and sighed faintly as Sasuke settled on the jinchuuriki's other side, ready to weather the storm.

* * *

I'm not sure exactly when I woke up. The soft, comforting blackness of sleep gave way at some stage to warm safety, the transition so slight I took at least half an hour to acknowledge the change. Even once I figured out I was awake I didn't move, quietly content in the feeling of being safe. Usually, the cold, unforgiving air of an empty apartment pressed down on me until I moved, or bitter, unfriendly wisps of dawn breeze stirred. In the hospital it was even worse, too-clean and impersonal, and if not for the drugs they'd kept me on I probably wouldn't have slept at all, too wary of my surroundings.

So I lay still, feeling passively protected and undisturbed, warmth suffusing from all around me. I was hearing breathing and heartbeats that weren't mine, but the knowledge wasn't distressing, and I didn't react, waiting for my mind to struggle out of sleep to identify them. Eventually, I managed to gain access to enough of my sleep-fogged memories to realise Sasuke was against my back, barely on the edge of the bed, and Kakashi-sensei was on my other side, wedged against the wall.

_Wha…? Why are these two here…?_

There was a pained groan and the bed creaked worryingly as Kakashi-sensei sat up. I didn't move, already aware that both he and Sasuke were awake, but not yet willing to wake up myself.

"God, that bed is uncomfortable," he grumbled quietly, shifting with obvious discomfort. I heard a faint 'crak' from one of his joints, and he grunted, before the dying mattress shifted slightly from under me. He'd stood up. "Is there any coffee here?"

"Yeah," Sasuke mumbled, "middle cupboard, top shelf, behind the blue boxes. New tin. I'm the only one who drinks it."

I heard a faint clatter as Sensei started to move around the kitchen. That scrik-clak was the sticky cupboard door jerking open – the tinkling of a full tin of something – that crash would be him dropping the kettle on the counter.

"These shelves look rather empty," Kakashi commented, his voice carrying quietly enough from the kitchen area that I didn't need to twitch. "Nothing but instant ramen. Is he due to get groceries?"

Sasuke yawned, but didn't sit up. "Not sure. But, um, Sensei… he doesn't usually have much more than instant ramen anyway."

There was a pause.

"He loves his ramen, huh?" Kakashi remarked. Clothing rustled: Sasuke must have shrugged.

"He does…" my friend said slowly. "But… Sensei, I don't really think he can afford much. Ramen's, like, the only thing he can buy enough of to actually fill him up. You know how much he eats."

"Surely it's not _that _bad," Sensei protested, a spoon clinking against a mug as the strong smell of coffee made my nose crinkle just slightly. I hadn't heard the kettle boil… "I mean, he gets a monthly allowance, just like all the other orphans in Konoha. Naruto doesn't buy clothes or shoes on a monthly basis, so he should have more than enough for food."

I restricted a wince, suddenly glad that I was still technically asleep and, like any good friend, leaving Sasuke completely to fend for himself before our nosy sensei on a topic I hated discussing.

"Uh…" I could hear, and feel, Sasuke shifting uncomfortably beside me. "Well, yeah, that's true, sensei, but… well, it's just… sometimes they… forget."

I could have sworn I felt the air temperature drop ten degrees instantaneously. Shivering, I snuggled deeper into my blankets, unwilling to wake up. 'Awareness' or no, I was still very much out of it, and happy that way. Then I realised something and restricted a gag.

_EW! These blankets reek! Ew, ew, ew – need to wash them! ASAP!_

"They forget?" Huh. It sounded like Sensei was gritting his teeth. That was weird.

Sasuke's answer was subdued. "Yeah. I sometimes bring him stuff – extra blankets, kunai… stuff. Even that coffee's mine: I stashed it here to help me wake up."

Ok, that was _way _true. Sasuke bunks here sometimes, but he is definitely not a morning person. Two hours is his best waking time without coffee. And then he was grumpy for the rest of the day. I never hid the coffee again.

There was a clink as Sensei put down his coffee mug, and I listened sleepily to his footsteps as he began to stride around the room, seeming agitated. I heard cupboards open and close, and winced when the wardrobe door fell off in his hand, the corner hitting the floor with a distinctive 'thunk'. Stupid thing was always coming off… Sensei was flicking through my clothes (orange shirt, orange shirt, orange shirt, Sasuke's shirt), but abandoned that and walked over to the sink. I heard the tap squeak as he turned the knobs with some difficulty.

After a long moment, I heard my teacher whirl around.

"He doesn't have hot water?" he shouted. I winced as the temperature plummeted again, and decided that now was a very good time to get up. I wanted my jacket anyway – my blanket was apparently too thin if I was this cold.

Sasuke had sat up at some stage – I was confused to realise I didn't know quite when – trying to explain to our angry teacher. "It's not his fault! The pipe cracked a while back, and no one's come to fix it yet!"

Sensei went very, very still, the distinct rustles of his clothing and hidden weaponry silenced. "How long?" he said quietly.

I finally managed to work up the energy to sit up from the bed, glancing around and trying to remember where I'd put my jacket last night… and I still didn't know why Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke were here. "G'morning, Sensei, Sa, Saaaa…" I yawned. Okay, not fully awake yet. "…Sasuke. What're you two doin' here, anyway?" I mumbled as I wriggled free of my clingy blanket and landed on the floor with a thump. "Ow. I hate it when that happens."

"Naruto, pack up your things. You're coming home with me," Kakashi-sensei said flatly, and I was suddenly made very much aware of the waves of furious killer intent seeping from him. Okay. I am _so _awake now.

"Kakashi-sensei, I don't know what I did, but whatever it was I'm very sorry and I won't do it again!" I said quickly, the angry promise of death that I was sensing making me nervous.

I heard him snatch a breath, and the KI went up a notch as he said, "You haven't done anything, Naruto, but I need you to pack your stuff. It's okay."

It didn't _sound _okay. I'd never heard or sensed Kakashi-sensei this angry before. Sometimes he'd let out a little bit of killer intent, like at Zabuza, or at a medic-nin who annoyed him, but nothing like this. "Sensei, you're scaring me," I said in a low voice.

As soon as I said it he took a deep breath and the KI died away as he made an obvious effort to calm down. "Sorry, Naruto," he said evenly. "I'm not mad at _you, _I promise. But you need to pack up your things and come with me, alright?" Then, under his breath, something I probably wasn't meant to hear: "If I had known…"

I frowned, even as I followed Sasuke tamely around the apartment, finding the things that I actually needed or that I wouldn't leave behind even when we went out of the village, cramming them all into my backpack. Where had I put my ink pots – fridge, that's right, I was testing a chakra theory… no, I had a stack of _seals _in there cooling, the ink pots were hidden on top of the coffee cupboard. My brushes… good question.

"…um, Sasuke?" I asked, once Sensei had left the apartment and shut the door rather more firmly than usual. "Is this, normal? Should Sensei _be_… this angry?"

"Well, yes and no," Sasuke admitted, folding something and shoving it in. "I think he _should _be angry, but… I also think he's overreacting a little. There's something a bit personal behind this."

"Oh. …Right then. I should really get around to stealing his file."

"Yes. Yes you should," Sasuke said firmly, and handed me my brushes.

* * *

A silver-haired man in his late twenties stormed up the stairs of the Hokage Tower. Very few people even considered trying to stop him, and those that did, didn't try. The visible ANBU guards took one look and moved out of his way, allowing him access to the upper floors; the invisible ones pretended they hadn't seen him.

Hatake Kakashi was on the warpath.

The door to the Hokage's office slammed open, banging off the wall to close loudly behind the furious intruder. The Sandaime glanced up, unnerved by the volume of killer intent, and barely had time to say, "Kakashi, what on earth is –" before the man exploded.

"No hot water, no real blankets, a bed that might as well have been a stone, no _food__! _How dare you let this happen?" he snarled, his voice loud enough to be dangerously near a shout. Sarutobi blinked.

"What on earth–?" he began, but was again cut off.

"I couldn't believe it – _wouldn't _have believed it unless I was actually there, looking around his apartment! If I had known you were going to do _this _to him – if I had known you were going to _abuse _him – I would have never agreed to keep my distance! Fuck, you're supposed to be the Hokage! You're supposed to _protect_ your citizens! Dammit, Sarutobi, you were supposed to look after him!"

Kakashi broke off, his chest heaving, glaring daggers at the stunned old man. Sarutobi was startled to see that despite the overwhelming anger radiating from the jounin in waves, Kakashi almost looked as if he were going to cry. The Hokage hadn't seen Kakashi like this since… well, since Minato had died.

"Kakashi," he said gently, choosing to ignore the impudence, disrespect and outright rudeness his ninja was displaying and making a mental note to have a _chat_ with the invisible ANBU guards in the office, who all seemed to be pretending they could not see, hear or sense the murderous Hatake. "I am afraid I do not understand. Who are you talking about?"

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, as the killer intent went up another notch (Sarutobi hadn't thought it possible) and Kakashi drew himself up angrily before spitting, "_Naruto_!"

Sarutobi was on instant alert. "Naruto? Is he okay? What's wrong? Has he been hurt? Attacked? Is he injured? Where is he now?"

Kakashi stared at his leader as if seeing him for the first time. "How can you be so… how is it you don't see what I'm talking about?" he asked, his voice low and incredulous: a dangerous state for a ninja. "Are you so convinced that I was never going to find out? _Naruto_ is blind, not me!" Sarutobi drew a quick breath at the harsh statement, but Kakashi wasn't done yet. "Sarutobi, he has no _food__!_ His twelve-year-old teammate _Sasuke_ has been supplying blankets and kunai! Naruto… how could you do this to him?"

The shock on the old Hokage's face was painfully obvious as he finally realised exactly what Kakashi was saying.

"Wh-what?" he stuttered – the first time Kakashi had ever heard him stumble over a word. "He… what?"

"You didn't know?" Kakashi's anger was ebbing slightly, his voice calming.

Sarutobi shook his head as if to clear it, gesturing Kakashi to sit down. "No! Did Naruto tell you this?"

Kakashi shook his head, sinking into the offered chair. "I stayed the night there with him – and Sasuke. This was the first storm since he was blinded – I figured thunder would be hard for him to cope with, so I went to check on him. He was frightened by the storm, and the only way I could calm him down was by holding him. Eventually he fell asleep, so I stayed the night."

Sarutobi nodded to show that he was following, his fingers twitching in annoyance as he heard his ANBU guards breathe sighs of relief now that Kakashi had calmed down.

"Anyway, this morning I woke up and realised just how hard his bed was – like stone, and all lumpy too. Frankly, it'd be healthier sleeping on the floor. He had a single thin blanket that belonged to Sasuke. More than that, I went through his cupboards – there is nothing there. He has ramen, and a tin of coffee that Sasuke brought over, and a bottle of off milk. Oh, and half a loaf of stale bread."

Sarutobi was looking more concerned with each passing second. "Well… he does love ramen…" he offered. Kakashi shook his head.

"Sasuke was there. According to him, Naruto eats ramen because it's all he can afford. Oh, he loves it, yes, but he can't actually buy enough of anything else to keep himself fed – ramen is cheap. Apparently, the people who issue the orphan's monthly allowance sometimes _forget_ to give him his."

The Sandaime's face was grey, his brow creased with worry. "Forget? But… how could they think to…" Sarutobi, Kakashi was pleased to see, was beginning to grow angry too.

"_And_," he continued, "You know that apartment he has? Not only is it falling to bits, he has to pay a horrendous rent, and the landlady isn't even keeping up her end of the deal. His water pipe cracked three years ago, and no-one's come to fix it."

Sarutobi was shocked. "Why didn't he say anything?" he breathed.

"He seems to feel it's no big deal," Kakashi confided. "He honestly didn't understand what I was upset about – he even apologised. Because he thought it was _his fault _that I was upset. Sir, he has _nothing._"

Sarutobi shook his head. "I will get to the bottom of this," he promised. "I assure you, Kakashi, I had no idea. But I will see those responsible punished – _severely_. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Now-"

"I'm not done," Kakashi interrupted. Sarutobi blinked, then raised an eyebrow, inviting him to continue. "Naruto moved into my apartment this morning," he said flatly. "As he should have twelve years ago. I will not let him leave, not now that he has not only suffered a crippling injury, but _abuse _all his life, too. I will care for him now."

Sarutobi frowned. "We tried to convince him to share living arrangements when he was first blinded," he reminded his jounin. "But he refused. He would not even bunk with Sasuke, his best friend. How can you–?"

"I told him to come, and he came," Kakashi said simply. "Easy. You can tell his landlady that she can re-rent out the apartment. And if she insists on him completing the contract, I'll pay it out. Re-direct the orphan allowance into my account – we'll see if they _forget_ to pay after that. I will ensure that Naruto gets everything he deserves."

Sarutobi considered for a moment, then nodded, reaching into his desk for a paper and writing on it quickly. "Very well. I hereby make you Uzumaki Naruto's official guardian. That does mean he won't get an orphan allowance any longer, but you shall receive a dependant allowance instead – basically the same thing – to provide for him. Look after him, Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded once and stood to leave, but was stopped by the door as Sarutobi called out to him.

"Kakashi!" The Hatake turned slightly. Sarutobi met his eyes and spoke seriously. "I am sorry."

After a brief moment, Kakashi nodded briskly and left, intent on returning to his student and, as of two minutes ago, new dependant.

* * *

Twin2: … *crickets chirp*

Okay. That plot twist came outta left field. I seriously had _no idea _that our muses were going to do this. It just kind of happened. This was just based around what would happen if there was a thunderstorm… y'know, a bonding thing? (shakes head and grins sheepishly) Just shows that I'm not in total control of the story and that I can still surprise myself occasionally. Or that my sister can still surprise me.

Twin1: (is staring at conclusion with horrified astonishment).


End file.
